The Nardi test, also known as the morphine-neostigmine provocation test is a test for dysfunction of the sphincter of Oddi, a valve which divides the biliary tract from the duodenum. Two medications, morphine and neostigmine, are given to people with symptoms concerning for sphincter dysfunction, including sharp right-sided abdominal pain. If the pain is reproduced by the medications, then dysfunction is more likely. The test poorly predicts dysfunction, however, and is rarely used today. The Nardi test was named for George Nardi, who first described the procedure in 1966.
Famous quotes containing the word test:
“We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test of its value—a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)