Bykhovsky Symptom

Bykhov's symptom, also known as “Bykhov's sign,” is one of the most well-known and frequently used diagnostic tests in medicine. This test was developed by Polish physician Zygmunt Bychowski in 1886 and is used to determine the presence or absence of an appendix in patients.

Bykhov's symptom is that the patient lies on his left side with his knees bent and his legs pressed to his stomach. The doctor then palpates the patient's abdomen and looks for a tender mass that may be the appendix. If such a formation is detected, then this indicates the presence of an appendix.

This test is very simple and quick, and can be performed even at home without special equipment. However, despite its simplicity, the Bykhov symptom is quite accurate and allows you to determine the presence or absence of an appendix with a high degree of reliability.

Thus, the Bykhovsky symptom remains one of the most important diagnostic tests in modern medicine and continues to be used to determine the presence of the appendix and other abdominal diseases.

This medical term and symptoms were first described not in Russian, but in Polish. German dermatologist Solomon Sommerz (“Symptom der Ząbkowatnia” - “Tooth symptom”) investigated the clinical phenomena in which saluin glands filled with mucus (saliva) secreted from the mouth are found on the mucous membranes of the oral cavity. He found that with benign gastric ulcer with late pyloric bleeding, the same changes in the mucous membranes of the oral cavity often occur as with syphilis. Simonova-Emelyanova L.T. in her monograph (1973) she solved this problem to a certain extent - recognizing the conclusions of S. Sommertz as generally correct, she associated the morphological changes in ulcers and parasyphilitic lesions of the oral cavity in some patients not with gastrointestinal pathology, but with syphilis, while differentiating early and late manifestations of pathology. Thus, Maria Nikolaevna Prozorova combined three points of view in her research. She found that saluinase, isolated from oral erosions with an acidic, enzymatic component of the secretion, gives a qualitative positive reaction to pallidum.