Dermatome Testing Flashcards
1
Q
What is a dermatome
A
Piece of skin supplied by a single spinal nerve
2
Q
What are you testing for
A
Sensation
3
Q
Responses
A
Normal
Reduced or numbness
Tingling or pins and needles
4
Q
Most concerning
A
Numbness as it indicates a large amount of compromise of afferent spinal nerve the spinal nerve root
It is possible to compress local nerve eg at one of the nerves at the elbow but this does not give dermatomal pattern
