TIPS FOR NCLEX: SIGNS FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS

SIGNS FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS 

Sign	Assessment/Observation	Associated Diagnoses
Aaron’s	Pain or distress occurs near heart or stomach when McBurney’s point (about halfway between umbilicus and head of femur) is palpated	Appendicitis
Balance’s	Flank area dullness to percussion that disappears with position change	Peritoneal irritation
Battle’s	Bruising behind one or both ears	Head trauma or skull fracture
Beck’s triad	Systemic hypotension, muffled heart tones, elevated venous pressure, neck vein distention	Cardiac tamponade
Brudzinski’s	With patient in dorsal recumbent position, forward flexion of head results in flexion of hip and knee	Meningeal irritation (meningitis)
Chvostek’s	Facial muscle spasm in cheek and around mouth, elicited by light percussion of facial nerve adjacent to ear	Tetany (acute hypocalcemia or hypomagnesemia)
Cullen’s	Bluish discoloration around umbilicus	Hemorrhagic pancreatitis or ectopic pregnancy
Cushing’s triad	Increased systolic BP, decreased heart rate, widened pulse pressure	Increased intracranial pressure
Grey Turner’s	Subcutaneous bruising around flanks and umbilicus	Retroperitoneal hematoma
Hamman’s crunch	Crunching sound auscultated over precordium during heartbeat	Alveolar rupture, esophageal tear, tracheal tear, bronchial tear, hemothorax, pneumothorax, or respiratory failure
Homans’s	Pain in calf elicited by passive dorsiflexion of foot	Deep vein thrombosis of lower leg
Kehr’s	Pain in subscapular area; usually on left side	Splenic rupture, ectopic pregnancy, or GI diseases
Kernig’s	With patient supine, flex leg at hip and knee, then attempt to straighten knee joint; pain & resistance noted	Meningeal irritation (meningitis)
McBurney’s	Sharp pain when examiner palpates deeply about halfway between umbilicus and head of femur, then suddenly withdraws hand	Appendicitis
Murphy’s	Pain when examiner presses fingers under rib cage and patient inhales deeply	Gallbladder inflammation
Psoas	Pain in abdomen when right leg is extended while patient lies on left side, or when legs are flexed while supine	Appendicitis
Raccoon eyes	Bruising and swelling around one or both eyes	Head trauma, basilar skull fracture, or facial fracture
Rovsing’s Trousseau’s Sign	Pain in RLQ when pressure applied to LLQ Flexion of wrist, adduction of thumb, and extension of  one or more fingers after tourniquet applied to arm	Appendicitis Tetany (hypocalcemia or hypomagnesemia), osteomalacia