HOW TO REMEMBER KERNIG’S AND BRUDZINSKI SIGNS

key words: meningitis, mnemonics, kernig sign, brudzinski sign, medical student

These two eponymous clinical signs are important pointers to meningitis (Don’t you hate it when things are named after people that are not you?), anyway, it can be confusing to remember which guy described which sign if your memory is half as bad as mine. Before we go into how to remember them, we need to know what they are.

Kernig’s sign

with the patient supine, and the thighs and knees flexed, the legs cannot be passively extended at the knees; a sign of meningeal irritation, specifically, involuntary contraction of the hamstring muscles due to irritation of the nerve roots supplying them.

Brudzinksi’s sign

involuntary flexion of the knees and hips following flexion of the neck while supine

Now here is how to remember them

Source: (Buja & Krueger, 2014)

For Kernig’s sign, notice it starts with a K. The knee is where you hold for support when eliciting the sign and it also starts with a K (Knee).

For Brudzinksi’s sign, notice it starts with a B. You whole the back of the head (think of the Brain which also starts with a B).

And there you have it.

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 Bibliography

•Buja, M. L., & Krueger, G. R. (2014). Netter’s Illustrated Human Pathology. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.

•Kumar, P., & Clark, M. (2012). Kumar & Clark's Clinical Medicine (8th ed.). Toronto: Saunders Elsevier.