| Kehr's sign | |
|---|---|
| Differential diagnosis | Hemorrhage peritoneal cavity |
Kehr's sign is the occurrence of acute pain in the tip of the shoulder due to the presence of blood or other irritants in theperitoneal cavity when a person is lying down and the legs are elevated. Kehr's sign in the left shoulder is considered a classic symptom of aruptured spleen.[1][2] May result from diaphragmatic or peridiaphragmatic lesions, renal calculi, splenic injury or ruptured ectopic pregnancy.[citation needed]
Kehr's sign is a classic example ofreferred pain: irritation of thediaphragm is signaled by thephrenic nerve as pain in the area above thecollarbone. This is because thesupraclavicular nerves have the samecervical nerves origin as the phrenic nerve, C3, C4, and C5.[citation needed]
The discovery of this is often attributed to a Germangall bladder surgeon namedHans Kehr, but extensive studies into research he conducted during his life shows inconclusive evidence as to whether he actually discovered it.[3]
 | Thismedical sign article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |