Thursday, December 14, 2006

The "Throckmorton Sign" Explained


We are an immature bunch for the most part. It turns out that with Xrays of the male pelvis or hip region that the penis can often be seen hanging left or right. Legend, not research, tells that the side the penis points to is the side of the fracture or 'lesion' as we say.

Further, a dude with a Throckmorton sign on the left who actually has a fracture or significant finding on the left side is said to have a "positive Throckmorton sign". If the penis points away from the injured side then it is called a "reverse Throckmorton sign". Also, if there is no injury to the patient then you have a "false-positive Throckmorton sign". This, of course, allows us to talk about the famed "Throckmorton sign" in all possible scenarios. A good dick-joke is never to be missed.

Of course, some males are so endowed as to impress the doctors and nurses with the immensity of their ding-dongs. In this case one might speak about a "Hugely positive Throckmorton sign" or a "Tremendously false-positive Throckmorton sign".

The above Xray demonstrates a normal pelvis and hip in a 27 year old white male who had fallen off a ladder. The patient reportied pain initially on the left side. Therefore this is what's knows as an "Oh my goodness, WOW! Hugely false-positive reverse-Throckmorton sign."

7 comments:

  1. Actually, the patient is rotated in that xray and it's not a true AP view of the pelvis. Thus, it's a MISLEADING Throckmorton!

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  2. Well it's a left hip film but let's not quibble. The guy has a huge schlong.

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  3. I was sitting in class today when a dude walked in wearing a Throckmorton highschool tshirt...

    I laughed so loud that the professor glared at me.

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  4. in reviewing the scout films on a CT for guy with abdominal pain today, i noticed the guy's penis was in the dead neutral position...

    of course he was hung like a field mouse

    made me think of the "neutral throckmorton" sign

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  5. Yeah, but is the image PA or AP? I don't see a L/R marker and since I withdrew halfway through the radiological technologist program, I can't tell by lookin' at it. Besides, regardless of handedness, magnification would make him look more well-endowed than he really is. Myself, on the other hand... :)

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  6. All very interesting but can anybody tell me who this guy Throckmorton anyway. Was he a Freudian psychiatrist who became a radiologist and never got over his Oedipal complex? How was Throckmorton hung?

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