A review on approach to a twitchy tongue in neurology

Several etiologies are responsible for presentation of a twitching tongue in clinical practice. Some of these etiologies cause an isolated hyperkinetic tongue muscle, and some others cause it along with other signs and symptoms.

The present paper aims to review the causes, pathology, and presentations reported with twitchy tongue. An anatomical basis of the etiologies responsible for presentation of a twitchy tongue and hyperkinetic movement disorders of this muscle is pursued.

The reporting of this systematic review was guided by the standards of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Statement. All of the research papers conducted with keywords described in the method section between 2000 and 2022 were used, and review articles and articles without any human subject and without any described hyperkinetic movement disorders of the tongue were excluded.

All of the etiologies responsible for hyperkinetic movement disorders of tongue were listed in the basis of their anatomical site of effect; cortical region, basal ganglia, cerebellum, brain stem, nucleus and nerve, and neuromuscular junction. One last remained part is the "not classified" section, which contains the etiologies with no particular anatomical origin.

There are a variety of responsible etiologies for presentation of a twitchy tongue, and in the matter of a complaint of hyperkinetic tongue presentation, physicians should consider anatomical, functional, and psychological etiologies and other signs and symptoms must be participated in the diagnosis process to achieve a proper medical decision.