Relating to a form of muscular spasm or rigidity where the body bends forward, as opposed to backward.
From Greek emprosthen (forward) + tonikos (relating to tension), derived from tonos (tone, tension). The term was used in ancient medical texts to describe a specific direction of muscular contraction during tetanus or similar conditions.
Medical terminology often preserves ancient Greek words exactly as the Greeks used them—emprosthotonic describes what happens during tetanus where victims arch backward, but the Greek 'forward' direction suggests ancient doctors had different conventions for describing body positions than we do.
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