Murphy's sign

This article is about the clinical sign observed in physical examinations. For the sonographic sign, see Sonographic Murphy sign. For the condition sometimes known as "Murphy's punch sign", see costovertebral angle tenderness.
Murphy's sign
PurposeDifferentiating upper right quadrant pain

In medicine, Murphy's sign (also known as Sweeney’s sign) is a maneuver during a physical examination as part of the abdominal examination.[1] It is useful for differentiating pain in the right upper quadrant. Typically, it is positive in cholecystitis, but negative in choledocholithiasis, pyelonephritis, and ascending cholangitis.

  1. ^ Bree, RL (March–April 1995). "Further observations on the usefulness of the sonographic Murphy sign in the evaluation of suspected acute cholecystitis" (PDF). Journal of Clinical Ultrasound. 23 (3): 169–72. doi:10.1002/jcu.1870230304. hdl:2027.42/38197. PMID 7730462. S2CID 16882278.