Palpation: Treatment, Effect & Risks

Palpation refers to palpation and corresponds to one of the oldest and most basic examination procedures. The best known palpation is that of the arteries to measure the pulse rate. However, organs or tissue structures are also palpated to detect pathological changes.

What is palpation?

In medicine, palpation means examination by palpation. The term palpation comes from the Latin verb “palpare.” Literally translated, palpare means to stroke. In medicine, palpation means examination by palpation. Both directly accessible structures on the surface of the body and indirectly accessible structures under the skin or other cover layers can be palpated. This examination procedure is the basis of all examination techniques in clinical practice and is one of the oldest procedures of all. Like auscultation, percussion and inspection, palpation also belongs to the physical or clinical examinations. Under this generic term, physicians include all examination methods that they perform with their own senses and no or hardly any additional aids. In the course of manual palpation, the physician aims to detect initial indications of pathological processes in the internal organs or tissue structures. Inspection, on the other hand, is the visual examination of the naked body. Auscultation is listening and percussion is tapping the body. Often palpation is combined with one of these other clinical examinations.

Function, effect, and goals

One of the most common and well-known palpations is that of the arteries, which is used to determine the pulse rate. However, palpation can also take place on the eyeball, for example. Palpation on this part of the body can help the physician assess eye pressure. The abdomen or lower abdomen are also frequently palpated to detect pathological processes in the abdominal organs. The gynecologist, on the other hand, regularly palpates the female breast. This palpation takes place especially during the week following menstruation and may allow the physician to detect lumps. During pregnancy, the gynecologist also palpates the uterus to check its growth in size. Palpations are also performed on the salivary glands and the excretory ducts of these glands. In this way, stones, for example, can be detected manually. On the liver, on the other hand, palpation provides the physician with information about the consistency and size of the organ. These two characteristics may reflect pathological processes. When palpating the lymph nodes, the physician may detect tumors or inflammation in various regions of the body. In addition to those mentioned, body components such as the aorta, joints, testes, prostate, or muscles and tendons can also be palpated for pathological changes. During palpation, the physician usually assesses five different characteristics. In addition to size, he examines the firmness, compliance, mobility and additionally the pain sensitivity of the body structure. In technical language, these five properties are also known as dimension, consistency, elasticity, mobility and pressure dolence. Based on these five characteristics, the physician can use palpation of the appendix to rule out or suggest appendicitis, for example. Palpation takes place either manually or bimanually. Manual in this context means palpation with one hand. Bimanual palpation, on the other hand, involves palpation with both hands. Bimanual palpation usually involves palpation of abdominal organs. One of the hands slips into the examining role. The other hand brings the examining hand closer to the respective organ and thus enables palpation.

Risks, side effects and dangers

Palpations can be accompanied by pain for the patient. Sometimes even severe pain occurs because the palpated organ or body structure is absolutely indolent in terms of pressure dolence. Inflammation or other diseases of the tissue can also cause pain during palpation. However, this pain is usually short-lived and usually subsides as soon as the pressure subsides. Because pressure dolence is an important clue during palpation, pressure pain can actually ultimately be helpful in making a diagnosis. Palpation is not usually associated with risks or side effects for the patient. However, certain palpations may feel uncomfortable. This applies, for example, to palpation of the prostate.This prostate palpation usually takes place rectally. The doctor therefore penetrates the anus, which is associated with an unpleasant feeling for many people. The prostate palpation is often preceded by enemas to empty the bowels. Most patients do not find this procedure particularly pleasant either. As a rule, the patient is also not allowed to eat before the prostatic palpation. Despite these circumstances, patients usually find palpation less stressful overall than previously assumed. Palpation is sometimes described as a less sensitive and non-specific method. The outcome of palpation depends heavily on the skill, intuition, and experience of the physician performing it. If a physician has never palpated a prostate before, for example, he or she will have difficulty detecting pathological tissue changes in the prostate. Moreover, those with little experience will hardly be able to assess which clinical pictures changes detected could indicate. Therefore, unlike in the distant past, palpation today is not sufficient to establish a diagnosis, but usually serves only to clarify which subsequent diagnostic procedures might make sense.