Femoral nerve stretch test, also known as Mackiewicz sign, is a test for spinal nerve root compression, which is associated with disc protrusion and femoral

nerve injury Nerve injury is an injury to nervous tissue. There is no single classification system that can describe all the many variations of nerve injuries. In 1941, Seddon introduced a classification of nerve injuries based on three main types of nerve ...

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Uses

The femoral nerve stretch test can identify spinal nerve root compression, which is associated with disc protrusion and femoral

. It can reliably identify spinal nerve root compression for L2, L3, and L4. It is usually positive for L2-L3 and L3-L4 (high lumbar) disc protrusions, slightly positive or negative in L4–L5 disc protrusions, and negative in cases of lumbosacral disc protrusion.

Procedure

To perform a femoral nerve stretch test, a patient lies prone, the

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the human leg, leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest join ...

is passively flexed to the

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip ( pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of ...

and the hip is passively extended (reverse Lasegues). The test is positive if the patient experiences anterior thigh

pain Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

References

{{reflist Neurology procedures