Rebound tenderness is a clinical sign that a doctor or other health care provider may detect in physical examination of a patient's abdomen. It refers to pain upon removal of pressure rather than application of pressure to the abdomen. (The latter is referred to simply as abdominal tenderness.)
It represents aggravation of the parietal layer of peritoneum by stretching or moving.
Rebound tenderness can be associated with peritonitis, which can occur in diseases like appendicitis, and may occur in ulcerative colitis with rebound tenderness in the right lower quadrant. The others are tenderness and abdominal guarding.
However, in recent years the value of rebound tenderness has been questioned, since it may not add any diagnostic value beyond the observation that the patient has severe tenderness.
Use of the sign has been supported by others.
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