Gowers' sign is a medical sign that indicates weakness of the proximal muscles, namely those of the lower limb. The sign describes a patient that has to use his or her hands and arms to "walk" up his or her own body from a squatting position due to lack of hip and thigh muscle strength.

It is named for William Richard Gowers.^[1][2]

[edit] Associations

Gowers' sign is classically seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but also presents itself in centronuclear myopathy, myotonic dystrophy and various other conditions associated with proximal muscle weakness. For this maneuver, the patient is placed on the floor away from any objects that could otherwise be used to pull oneself to a standing position. It is also used in testing paraplegia.

[edit] See also

• Centronuclear myopathy (including myotubular myopathy)
• Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• Spinal muscular atrophy

[edit] References

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v • d • e Eponymous medical signs · nervous system CNS Head, general Battle's sign · Broca aphasia · Kernig's sign · MacEwen's sign · Myerson's sign · Stroop test · Wada test · Dix-Hallpike test · Hirano body Multiple sclerosis Dawson's fingers · Lhermitte's sign · Charcot's neurologic triad · Uhthoff's phenomenon Other Romberg's test PNS Reflexes of extremities/ corticospinal tract Combination Jendrassik maneuver Lower limb Babinski sign · Chaddock reflex · Oppenheim's sign · Westphal's sign Upper limb Hoffmann's sign Other torso/limbs Upper limb Froment's sign · Phalen maneuver Lower limb Abadie's symptom · Gowers' sign · Hoover's sign · Lasègue's sign · Trendelenburg's sign Torso Beevor's sign General Cushing's triad · Tinel sign · Todd's paresis central nervous system navs: anat/physio/dev, noncongen/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc peripheral nervous system navs: anat/histo/physio/dev, noncongen PNS somatic/autonomic/congen/neoplasia, symptoms+signs/eponymous, proc

v • d • e Eponymous medical signs for skeletal system and joints Joints Arthropathy osteoarthritis (Bouchard's nodes/Heberden's node) dermatomyositis (Gottron's papules) DeQuervain's syndrome (Finkelstein's test) anterior shoulder instability (Jobe's test) hip dysplasia (Barlow's maneuver, Ortolani test) Dorsopathy low back pain (Waddell's signs) low back flexibility (Schober test) sacroiliitis (Larrey's sign) Trauma/Orthopedics KNEE: ligament (Lachman test) · meniscus (Apley grind test, McMurray test) · ligament and meniscus (O'Donoghue's triad) ANKLE: tendon (Simmonds' test) Skeletal/bone bone tumor (Codman triangle) osteochondritis dissecans (Wilson test) joint navs: anat, non-congenital arthropathies/deformities/dorsopathies/soft tissue arthropathy/congenital, eponymous signs, proc Bone and cartilage navboxes: anat / physio / dev, noncongen / congen / neoplasia, symptoms+signs / eponymous signs, proc