When a patient presents with symptoms of possible appendicitis with constant and severe pain in the lower right-hand side of the abdomen, there are several diagnostic examination signs medical practitioners can use to help assess the patient and confirm a case of appendicitis. These signs are:
- Dunphy’s and Rovsing’s signs: Dumphy’s sign involve the patient experiencing increased abdominal pain when coughing. The Rovsing’s sign involves the patient feeling referred pain in the right lower quadrant when a medical practitioner palpitates the left lower quadrant. Referred pain felt in the right lower quadrant indicates irritation of the entire peritoneum, which happens with appendicitis.
- McBurney’s sign: McBurney’s sign involves pain and tenderness being felt by the patient with the palpitation of McBurney’s point. This is located one-third of the distance from the anterior superior iliac spine to the umbilicus. This point s situated at the base of the appendix, so patients will feel pain and tenderness here when their appendix is inflamed.
- The obturator sign: The obturator sign involves patients being placed into the supine position and then experiencing right lower quadrant pain on passive internal hip rotation. The pain felt is caused by the inflamed appendix’s irritation of the obturator internus muscle. Pain felt by passive internal hip rotation indicates a positive sign of appendicitis.
- The psoas sign: The psoas sign involves a patient experiencing a right lower quadrant pain when passively extending their hip while the patient is in a left lateral decubitus position. The inflamed appendix will irritate the iliopsoas muscles of the hip flexors. Pain felt by passive hip extension indicates a positive sign of appendicitis.
Practitioner Development UK Limited offers a range of educational training courses and practical workshops for medical staff across all disciplines. We recommend the following two courses for practitioners involved with face-to-face patient assessments.
AOL3 Five-Day Patient Assessment Workshop Online
This CPD Standards Office Accredited online course has been developed for a virtual classroom setting where attendees can gain knowledge drawn from our in-person, face-to-face 5-Day Patient Assessment workshop. It is an ideal workshop for medical professionals who cannot attend our in-house course but can still gain valuable knowledge and practical experience.
This online workshop focuses on core history taking and physical patient examinations. Workshop participants can boost their confidence and skills in physical examinations to make the right clinical decision regarding treatment, patient care, and management.
This course runs from 09:30 am-5:00 pm Monday- Thursday, Friday is per the agreed test out appointment. Those recommended to attend include registered nurses, paramedics, occupational health nurses, physiotherapists, medical students, and Allied health professionals.
Attendees will develop their skills in the following:
- Understand the principles of history taking
- Feel confident to undertake a detailed health history from a patient.
- Understand the techniques of physical examination skills
- Correctly apply physical examination skills to each of the systems covered
- Complete a final physical examination that covers three of the major body systems.
We recommend the following course for medical students and allied health professionals who prefer an in-person, hands-on practical workshop environment.
A03 Five-day patient assessment skills workshop: Face to Face
This is an in-person CPD Standards Office Accredited five-day workshop that focuses on adult patient care. The course involves studying basic patient medical history taking and physical examination techniques. Participants will take part in performing complete physical examinations following clinical practice requirements and guidelines.
This course is ideal for nurses, nurse practitioners, medical students and allied health professionals to gain knowledge and improve skills in assessing adult patients and grow confidence in making the proper treatment and patient care decisions.
Participants will gain valuable knowledge in the following:
- Learn and use the principles of taking a safe, structured patient history.
- Be able to apply physical examination techniques appropriately for each of the major body systems.
- Perform a complete structured physical examination.
- Identify normal and common abnormal findings encountered while conducting a patient examination.
- Document findings in a clear, concise manner.
