Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Flexion contracture
Flexed joint that cannot be straightened
HP:0001371
What it means
A flexion contracture is a bent (flexed) joint that cannot be straightened actively or passively. It is thus a chronic loss of joint motion due to structural changes in muscle, tendons, ligaments, or skin that prevents normal movement of joints.
Rare diseases that can present with this115
Very common80–99%
20- Autosomal recessive generalized dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, severe form
- Autosomal spastic paraplegia type 18
- B4GALT7-related spondylodysplastic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Bethlem muscular dystrophy
- CHST3-related skeletal dysplasia
- Congenital contractural arachnodactyly
- Congenital muscular dystrophy, Fukuyama type
- Crisponi syndrome
- Cutis laxa-Marfanoid syndrome
- Duchenne muscular dystrophy
- Farber disease
- Intellectual disability-cataracts-calcified pinnae-myopathy syndrome
- Lipodystrophy due to peptidic growth factors deficiency
- Maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome X syndrome
- Mucopolysaccharidosis-like syndrome with congenital heart defects and hematopoietic disorders
- Myopathic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Neonatal Marfan syndrome
- Otoonychoperoneal syndrome
- Schaaf-Yang syndrome
- Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy
Common30–79%
34- Antenatal multiminicore disease with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita
- Autosomal recessive Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease with hoarseness
- Bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria
- Calpain-3-related limb-girdle muscular dystrophy R1
- Congenital fiber-type disproportion myopathy
- Congenital limbs-face contractures-hypotonia-developmental delay syndrome
- Congenital muscular dystrophy due to LMNA mutation
- Diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis
- Fetal Gaucher disease
- FOXP1 Syndrome
- Gaucher disease type 2
- Huntington disease-like 3
- Ichthyosis hystrix of Curth-Macklin
- Intermediate nemaline myopathy
- Kagami-Ogata syndrome due to maternal 14q32.2 microdeletion
- Kagami-Ogata syndrome due to paternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 14
- Keppen-Lubinsky syndrome
- Laminin subunit alpha 2-related congenital muscular dystrophy
- Lissencephaly type 1 due to doublecortin gene mutation
- Mal de Meleda
- Mowat-Wilson syndrome
- Mucolipidosis type III alpha/beta
- Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia type 4
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Neu-Laxova syndrome
- Oral submucous fibrosis
- PEHO syndrome
- RNF13-related severe early-onset epileptic encephalopathy
- Severe congenital nemaline myopathy
- Spondylodysplastic Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Stüve-Wiedemann syndrome
- Terminal osseous dysplasia-pigmentary defects syndrome
- TMEM70-related mitochondrial encephalo-cardio-myopathy
- Trisomy 17p syndrome
Sometimes5–29%
24- Adult-onset autosomal dominant leukodystrophy
- Adult-onset nemaline myopathy
- Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome
- Alobar holoprosencephaly
- Alopecia-intellectual disability syndrome
- Alpha-thalassemia-intellectual disability syndrome linked to chromosome 16
- Anoctamin-5-related limb-girdle muscular dystrophy R12
- Autosomal dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A2
and 16 more in this range
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions, and Orphanet separately records 1 disease where this sign is specifically absent. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Flexion contractures · Flexion contractures of joints
Tracking symptoms like this for someone? Eleplan keeps symptoms, diagnoses, medications and every specialist in one plan.
Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.