In
medicine
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
, Murphy's sign (also known as Sweeney’s sign) is a maneuver during a
physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, clinical examination, or medical checkup, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a Disease, medical condition. It generally consists of a series of ...
as part of the
abdominal examination
An abdominal examination is a portion of the physical examination which a physician or nurse uses to clinically observe the abdomen of a patient for signs of disease. The abdominal examination is conventionally split into four different stages: ...
.
It is useful for
differentiating pain
Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sense, sensory and emotional experience associated with, or res ...
in the
right upper quadrant
The human abdomen is divided into quadrants and regions by anatomists and physicians for the purposes of study, diagnosis, and treatment. The division into four quadrants allows the localisation of pain and tenderness, scars, lumps, and other i ...
. Typically, it is positive in
cholecystitis
Cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder. Symptoms include Right upper quadrant (abdomen), right upper abdominal pain, pain in the right shoulder, nausea, vomiting, and occasionally fever. Often gallbladder attacks (biliary colic) precede ...
, but negative in
choledocholithiasis
Common bile duct stone, also known as choledocholithiasis, is the presence of gallstones in the common bile duct (CBD) (thus '' choledocho-'' + '' lithiasis''). This condition can cause jaundice and liver cell damage. Treatments include choledocho ...
,
pyelonephritis
Pyelonephritis is inflammation of the kidney, typically due to a bacterial infection. Symptoms most often include fever and flank tenderness. Other symptoms may include nausea, burning with urination, and frequent urination. Complications ...
, and
ascending cholangitis
Ascending cholangitis, also known as acute cholangitis or simply cholangitis, is inflammation of the bile duct, usually caused by bacteria ascending from Ampulla of Vater, its junction with the duodenum (first part of the small intestine). It ten ...
.
During physical examination
Classically, Murphy's sign is tested for during an
abdominal examination
An abdominal examination is a portion of the physical examination which a physician or nurse uses to clinically observe the abdomen of a patient for signs of disease. The abdominal examination is conventionally split into four different stages: ...
in supine position; it is performed by asking the patient to breathe out and then gently placing the hand below the
costal margin
The costal margin, also known as the costal arch, is the lower edge of the chest (thorax) formed by the bottom edge of the rib cage.
Structure
The costal margin is the medial margin formed by the cartilages of the seventh to tenth ribs. It att ...
on the right side at the mid-
clavicular line (the approximate location of the
gallbladder
In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow Organ (anatomy), organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath t ...
). The patient is then instructed to breathe in. Normally, during inspiration, the
abdominal
The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...
contents are pushed downward as the
diaphragm moves down (and
lung
The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...
s expand). If the patient stops breathing in (as the gallbladder is
tender and, in moving downward, comes in contact with the examiner's fingers) and winces with a "catch" in breath, the test is considered positive. In order for the test to be considered negative, the same maneuver must not elicit pain when performed on the left side.
Predictive value
Murphy's sign has a high
sensitivity and
negative predictive value
The positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV respectively) are the proportions of positive and negative results in statistics and diagnostic tests that are true positive and true negative results, respectively. The PPV and NPV desc ...
, although the
specificity is not high.
However, in the elderly the sensitivity is markedly lower; a negative Murphy's sign in an elderly person is not useful for ruling out cholecystitis if other tests and the clinical history suggest the diagnosis.
History
The sign is named after American
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
John Benjamin Murphy (1857–1916), a Chicago surgeon from the 1880s to the early 1900s, who first described the hypersensitivity to deep palpation in the subcostal area when a patient with gallbladder disease takes a deep breath.
See also
*
Courvoisier's law
Courvoisier's principle (known as Courvoisier's sign or Courvoisier–Terrier's sign, or Courvoisier syndrome) states that a painless palpably enlarged gallbladder accompanied with mild jaundice is unlikely to be caused by gallstones. Usually, ...
– when the gallbladder is palpable, painless
jaundice
Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...
is unlikely to be related to
gallstones
A gallstone is a stone formed within the gallbladder from precipitated bile components. The term cholelithiasis may refer to the presence of gallstones or to any disease caused by gallstones, and choledocholithiasis refers to the presence of ...
.
*
Murphy's triad
References
External links
*
{{Digestive system and abdomen symptoms and signs
Diagnostic surgery
Medical signs
Hepatology