Clinical assessment of the Palmaris Longus – Accuracy of common tests
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Date
2012Author
Kigera, JWM
Mukwaya, S
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
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Background: The Palmaris longus is a small vestigial muscle that is
used as a tendon graft by surgeons. There are several tests described
to detect the presence of the muscle clinically and there are variable
opinions about which test is better. We set out to determine which of
ten common tests brings out the tendon better.
Methods: We conducted a prospective study and subjected all participants
to 10 tests to detect the presence of the Palmaris Longus. A
negative test on all tests was judged to mean absence of the tendon
while a positive result on any test was judged to be positive. Participants
provided written informed consent and assent was sought from
the next of kin in the case of those aged below 18 years. The study
was approved by the hospital ethics board and permission was granted
by the school authorities.
Results; The Standard test described by Schaeffer was the most accurate
while the open hand sign described by Bhattacharya was the
least accurate.
Conclusion: Tests that incorporate wrist flexion, thumb abduction,
opposition and finger flexion are best at bringing out the Palmaris tendon.
Clinicians should be aware of this as they counsel patients who
need tendon grafts. Studies aiming at detecting the presence of the
Palmaris longus would be more accurate were they to use these tests
URI
http://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/jameskigera/publications/clinical-assessment-palmaris-longus-%E2%80%93-accuracy-common-testshttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/47269
Citation
The AnnAls of AfricAn surgery • Volume 9 • July 2012Publisher
College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10377]