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Chaddock Sign

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Chaddock Sign

Chaddock Sign
Illustration of Babinski Sign, Chaddock Sign and Oppenheims Sign[1]
  • Chaddock’s Sign
  • Chaddock Reflex
  • Chaddock’s Reflex
  • Chaddock Test
  • Chaddock’s Test
  • Lateral Plantar Reflex

Purpose

  • Assess for upper motor neuron (UMN) lesions
  • Evaluate integrity of the corticospinal tract
  • Serve as an alternative to the Babinski Sign, especially when plantar stimulation is equivocal
  • Originally described by Charles Gilbert Chaddock in 1911[2]

Description

  • The patient is relaxed, typically supine
  • The examiner strokes the lateral aspect of the foot, from the heel toward the little toe
  • Normal response
    • Plantar flexion (downgoing) of the great toe
  • Positive test
    • Dorsiflexion (upgoing) of the great toe ± fanning of the toes

Pathology

  • Upper Motor Neuro Lesion

Evidence

  • Unknown

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Suri, Vinit. Clinical Neurological Examination and Localization. Springer, 2024.
  2. ↑ Goetz, Christopher G. "History of the extensor plantar response: Babinski and Chaddock signs." Seminars in neurology. Vol. 22. No. 04. Copyright© 2002 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.:+ 1 (212) 584-4662, 2002.
Created by:
John Kiel on 19 March 2026 14:18:07
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Last edited:
20 March 2026 12:38:42
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