Abdominal reflex

By Rosenback

Rosenbach O (1876) Ein Beitrag zur Symptomatologie cerebraler Hemiplegieen. Archiv fu¨r
Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten 6:845–851
• Superficial polysynaptic reflex
• Afferent – sensory afferents, efferent is
abdominal muscles
• T7-T12
• Presence of the reflex is reassuring , that there
is no UMN lesion.
• Was to protect the internal viscera from
damage
• Long reflex arc which utilizes pyramidal tract.
• Not a short arc
Pin wheel
 Uses
• Level of lesions in thoracic spinal cord
pathology
• To do MRI in Idiopathic scoliosis if absent ( R/O
syringomyelia )
 Absent in
• UMN lesions and LMN lesions
• Multiparous women
• Obesity
• Underwent abdominal surgery
• Anxious
• Elderly
Stroking - Lateral to medial
 Beevor’s sign
• T11 to T12 segment lesions
• The umbilicus moves upward, it is a positive
Beevor sign
• Same position – negative
• Move downwards in upper rectus abdominis
weakness.
• Facio-scapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
(FSHD) – Pathognomonic sign
McCarter SJ, Burkholder DB, Klaas JP, Boes CJ. Charles E. Beevor's lasting contributions to
neurology: More than just a sign. Neurology. 2018 Mar 13;90(11):513-517.
 • An absent SAR on the same side as the
convexity of the curve is an early and sensitive
indicator of underlying syringomyelia.
Sometimes this may be the only abnormal
neurological sign.

Zadeh, H., Sakka, S., Powell, M., & Mehta, M. (1995). Absent superficial abdominal reflexes in
children with scoliosis. An early indicator of syringomyelia. The Journal of Bone and Joint
Surgery. British Volume, 77-B(5), 762–767.
• Herniated hindbrain or cerebellar tonsils
behave as a valve and block
• The normal redistribution of the pressure
between the subarachnoid space of the
cranium and the spinal cord.
• The resultant pressure difference drives the
CSF from the high-pressure ventricular system
into the central canal of the cord which
develops into the ‘syrinx’.
• The basic principle of hindbrain
decompression is to reverse this phenomenon
and to release the neural tissue impacted in
the foramen magnum.