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Tics or Tourette Syndrome – Primary Care, Outpatient Specialty Care and Emergency Department – Common Phenomenology of Tics

Tics or Tourette Syndrome – Primary Care, Outpatient Specialty Care and Emergency Department

Common Phenomenology of Tics

Common Presentation of Tics

Common Vocal Tics Common Motor Tics
  • Throat clearing
  • Grunting
  • Sniffling
  • Snorting
  • Coughing
  • Animal noises
  • Syllables, words, phrases
  • Echolalia: repeating vocalizations of others
  • Coprolalia: obscene words
  • Blocking/stuttering
  • Eye blinking
  • Eye rolling/darting
  • Head jerk
  • Facial grimace
  • Mouth/tongue movements
  • Shoulder shrugs
  • Chest/stomach tightening
  • Pelvic tensing movements
  • Leg/feet movements
  • Arm/hand movements
  • Echopraxia: copying another’s gestures
  • Copropraxia: obscene gestures

Common Characteristics of Tics

  • < 12 yrs of age at onset
    • ≥ 12 yrs of age at onset, consider functional etiology
  • Presence of urge and relief after the movement or vocalization
    • Urge may be itchiness, muscle tightness, feeling of pent-up energy, discomfort
  • Exacerbated by emotions—excitement, stress
  • Waxing and waning nature
  • Mostly happens while awake
  • Tend to subside when child is actively engaged in a task
  • Tend to increase when talking about the tic

Diagnostic Criteria for Tic Disorders

Provisional Tic Disorder
  • < 1 yr duration
  • ≥ 1 motor or vocal tics
Chronic Tic Disorder
  • Tourette Syndrome
    • Lifetime history of multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic
    • ≥ 1 yr cumulative duration
  • Chronic motor tic
    • ≥ 1 motor tics
    • ≥ 1 yr duration
  • Chronic vocal tic
    • ≥ 1 vocal tics
    • ≥ 1 yr duration
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