Science of a sign

Murphy's sign is a sign elicited by doctors in cases of acute cholecystitis. The doctor keeps his hand below the right costal margin and the patient is asked to take a deep breath. If the patient complains of pain on inspiration, the sign is considered to be positive.This is because the gall bladder, which is inflamed, comes and touches the examiner's fingers.

The sign is named after John Benjamin Murphy, who was called by Mayo as" the surgical genius of our generation". He described innovative procedures in vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, plastic surgery, urology, orthopedics, general surgery and neurosurgery.

Some eponyms related to him are:

•  Murphy’s button- a mechanical device used for intestinal anastomosis

•  Murphy's punch- a punch tenderness at the costo-vertebral angle in cases of perinephric abscess

• Murphy’s test- a test for deep-seated tenderness and muscular rigidity in cases of perinephric abscess

• Murphy drip for administration of fluids by proctoclysis in patients with peritonitis

• Murphy-Lane bone skid-a common commercial steel instrument used for femoral head procedures

He was a founding member of the American College of surgeons and predicted his own autopsy findings ( He died due to aortitis).