Rare diseases · Sign or symptom

Intercostal muscle weakness

Muscle weakness between ribs

HP:0004878

What it means

Lack of strength of the intercostal muscles, i.e., of the muscle groups running along the ribs that create and move the chest wall.

Rare diseases that can present with this3

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. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Dependence on diaphragmatic breathing

Intercostal muscle weakness

Tracking symptoms like this for someone? Eleplan keeps symptoms, diagnoses, medications and every specialist in one plan.

Start free with Eleplan

This 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.