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General light palpation for tenderness

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

In the general light palpation for tenderness, the patient should be asked before palpation commences whether there are any tender parts of the abdomen. This region is palpated lastly during the first sweep as immediate pain will encourage the patient not to relax for the rest of the examination.

Assess the degree of tenderness:

  • mild tenderness that just causes pain
  • moderate tenderness that may cause the patients stomach muscles to tighten with pressing - guarding
  • severe tenderness - also associated with guarding; also the sudden withdrawal of the manual pressure causes a sharp exacerbation of the pain; the latter is known as rebound or release tenderness

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