title: Tinel's sign or percussion test? Developing a better method of evoking a Tinel's sign.
abstract: Clinicians elicit a Tinel's sign by tapping over a nerve site with their fingertips. No standard force has been established, and overzealous tapping can produce a false-positive "Tinel's sign" that is actually a positive percussion test. The purpose of our study was to determine a threshold force that produces a positive percussion test in each of seven nerve locations in the upper extremities of subjects with no known nerve injuries and in subjects with nerve injuries. These data suggest limits for the amount of force necessary to elicit a Tinel's sign. If these limits are adhered to, the incidence of false-positive responses may be kept low.
authors.affiliation: Hand and Microsurgery Center of El Paso, Tex 79925, USA.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Monsivais
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000294:innervation; D005543:Forearm Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000503:physiopathology; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010292:Paresthesia / Q000503:physiopathology; D010474:Percussion / Q000295:instrumentation*; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology