The costovertebral angle () is the acute angle formed on either side of the

human back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebr ...

between the

twelfth rib The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessel ...

and the

vertebral column The spinal column, also known as the vertebral column, spine or backbone, is the core part of the axial skeleton in vertebrates. The vertebral column is the defining and eponymous characteristic of the vertebrate. The spinal column is a segmente ...

. The

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

lies directly below this area, so is the place where, with

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(), pain is elicited when the person has kidney inflammation. The presence of pain is marked as a positive Murphy's punch sign or as

costovertebral angle tenderness Costovertebral angle (CVA) tenderness is pain that results from touching the region inside of the costovertebral angle.Bickley, Lynn S., Peter G. Szilagyi, and Richard M. Hoffman. Bates' guide to physical examination and history taking. Philadel ...

References

Back anatomy {{musculoskeletal-stub