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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 53(4), 1995, pp. 386-387
Copyright © 1995 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Short Report: The Spatula Test: A Simple Bedside Test to Diagnose Tetanus

Nitin M. Apte AND Dilip R. Karnad
Department of Medicine, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Parel, Bombay, India

Four hundred patients with suspected tetanus were studied to determine the value of the spatula test to diagnose tetanus. A positive test result (reflex spasm of the masseters on touching the posterior pharyngeal wall) was seen in 359 (94%) of 380 patients with tetanus and in no patient without tetanus. Thirty-three of 400 patients (13 with tetanus and 20 with other diagnoses) had a negative test result (a gag reflex with attempted expulsion of the spatula). Thus, the test performed on presentation had a high specificity (100%) and sensitivity (94%) for diagnosing tetanus.






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Copyright © 1995 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.