Which description best matches the Kemp's test protocol?

Which description best matches the Kemp's test protocol?

• A. The patient lies prone and performs a straight leg raise with downward pressure.
• B. The patient stands and flexes the trunk with opposite rotation and downward shoulder pressure.
• C. The patient stands in lumbar extension with ipsilateral rotation and lateral flexion while gentle downward pressure is applied through the shoulders.
• D. The patient sits and presses the spine into the table while twisting the torso.

Answer: (C)

Kemp's test evaluates facet joint irritation in the lumbar spine by loading the facet joints through a combination of extension, ipsilateral rotation, and lateral flexion, with an additional downward axial force. The patient stands, the spine is extended and rotated toward the involved side while gently bending to that side, and the examiner applies downward pressure through the shoulders to increase the compressive load on the facets. If this reproduces the patient’s familiar low back pain, it suggests facet-mediated pain rather than nerve root compression. This helps distinguish facet joint pain from radicular pain that might be provoked by nerve tension tests. The other described maneuvers load tissues differently (for example, nerve-root tension with a prone straight-leg raise, or different loading patterns while seated), so they don’t match Kemp's protocol.

Kemp's test evaluates facet joint irritation in the lumbar spine by loading the facet joints through a combination of extension, ipsilateral rotation, and lateral flexion, with an additional downward axial force. The patient stands, the spine is extended and rotated toward the involved side while gently bending to that side, and the examiner applies downward pressure through the shoulders to increase the compressive load on the facets. If this reproduces the patient’s familiar low back pain, it suggests facet-mediated pain rather than nerve root compression. This helps distinguish facet joint pain from radicular pain that might be provoked by nerve tension tests. The other described maneuvers load tissues differently (for example, nerve-root tension with a prone straight-leg raise, or different loading patterns while seated), so they don’t match Kemp's protocol.