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Simmonds' test

Simmonds' test (also called the Thompson test or Simmonds-Thompson test) is used in lower limb examination to test for the rupture of the achilles tendon.^[1]^[2] The patient lies face down with feet hanging off the edge of the bed. If the test is positive, there is no movement of the foot (normally plantarflexion) on squeezing the corresponding calf, signifying likely rupture of the achilles tendon.^[3]

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It is named after Franklin Adin Simmonds (1911-1983), an English orthopaedic surgeon at the Rowley Bristow Hospital, Surrey.^[4]

References

^ Thompson T (1962). "A test for rupture of the tendo achillis". Acta Orthop Scand 32: 461-5. PMID 13981206.
^ Thompson T, Doherty J (1962). "Spontaneous rupture of tendon of Achilles: a new clinical diagnostic test". J Trauma 2: 126-9. PMID 13920945.
^ Scott B, al Chalabi A (1992). "How the Simmonds-Thompson test works". J Bone Joint Surg Br 74 (2): 314—5. PMID 1544978.
^ Simmonds FA (1957). "The diagnosis of the ruptured Achilles tendon". Practitioner 179 (1069): 56-8. PMID 13453094.