Froment's sign is a special test of the wrist for

palsy Palsy is a medical term which refers to various types of paralysisDan Agin, ''More Than Genes: What Science Can Tell Us About Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risk to Our Children;; (2009), p. 172. or paresis, often accompanied by weakness and ...

of the

ulnar nerve In human anatomy, the ulnar nerve is a nerve that runs near the ulna bone. The ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint is in relation with the ulnar nerve. The nerve is the largest in the human body unprotected by muscle or bone, so injury is ...

, specifically, the action of

adductor pollicis In human anatomy, the adductor pollicis muscle is a muscle in the hand that functions to adduct the thumb. It has two heads: transverse and oblique. It is a fleshy, flat, triangular, and fan-shaped muscle deep in the thenar compartment beneath ...

. Froment's maneuver can also refer to the cogwheel effect from contralateral arm movements seen in

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. __TOC__

Process of examination

To perform the test, a patient is asked to hold an object, usually a flat object such as a piece of paper, between the

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

and index finger (pinch grip). The examiner then attempts to pull the object out of the subject's hands.Jeff G. Konin ''et al''. ''Special Tests for Orthopedic Examination: Third Edition.'' Thorofare, NJ. SLACK Incorporated, 2006. * A normal individual will be able to maintain a hold on the object without difficulty. * However, with ulnar nerve palsy, the patient will experience difficulty maintaining a hold and will compensate by flexing the

flexor pollicis longus The flexor pollicis longus (; FPL, Latin ''flexor'', bender; ''pollicis'', of the thumb; ''longus'', long) is a muscle in the forearm and hand that flexes the thumb. It lies in the same plane as the flexor digitorum profundus. This muscle is uniqu ...

of the thumb to maintain grip pressure causing a pinching effect.Richardson, Craig and Fabre, Gerd. '"Froment's Sign." ''Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine.'' Vol. 26, No. 1 (2003):34. * Clinically, this compensation manifests as

flexion Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relative ...

of the interphalangeal joint of the thumb (rather than adduction, as would occur with correct use of the adductor pollicis). * The compensation of the affected hand results in a weak pinch grip with the tips of the thumb and index finger, therefore, with the thumb in obvious flexion. * Note that the flexor pollicis longus is normally innervated by the anterior interosseous branch of the median nerve. * Anterior interosseous branch comes off more proximally than the wrist, in evaluating lacerations near the wrist. * Simultaneous hyperextension of the thumb

MCP joint The metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP) are situated between the metacarpal bones and the proximal phalanges of the fingers. These joints are of the condyloid kind, formed by the reception of the rounded heads of the metacarpal bones into shallow cavi ...

is indicative of ulnar nerve compromise. This is also known as Jeanne's sign.

Eponym

It is named after French neurologist

Jules Froment Jules Froment (Lyon, 1878 – 1946) was a French neurologist. He earned his doctorate in 1906 with a thesis on heart diseases associated with thyrotoxicosis. For much of his career, he was a professor at Lyon. Life Froment is remembered for his ...

References

Symptoms and signs: Nervous system {{med-sign-stub