This diagnostic maneuver entails the examiner utilizing a closed fist to ship a agency, but managed, strike to a selected space of the physique, mostly the costovertebral angle (CVA) area of the again. The aim is to elicit tenderness or ache, which may point out underlying irritation or pathology within the adjoining organs, such because the kidneys. For example, important discomfort throughout this process carried out on the CVA would possibly recommend the presence of kidney an infection (pyelonephritis) or kidney stones.
The worth of this system lies in its fast and comparatively easy utility, offering a fast evaluation of potential organ involvement in sufferers presenting with belly or again ache. Its utilization predates superior imaging modalities and stays a clinically related part of a complete bodily examination. Whereas not definitive, a optimistic discovering guides additional diagnostic investigations and helps to slim the differential prognosis. The process assists in differentiating musculoskeletal ache from ache originating throughout the visceral organs.
