Which statement about spinous wiggle is true?

Which statement about spinous wiggle is true?

• A. It measures spinal cord length.
• B. It is used to locate thoracic transverse processes.
• C. It diagnoses scoliosis.
• D. It locates rib attachments.

Answer: (B)

Spinous wiggle is a palpation technique used to identify the thoracic transverse processes. By gently palpating along the spinous processes and applying a subtle wiggle, you can feel where a spinous process overlies a particular vertebral level and then locate the lateral projection of the transverse process at that same level. Knowing where the transverse process sits helps orient to thoracic vertebrae and their rib attachments. This isn’t used to measure spinal cord length, so that option isn’t appropriate. It isn’t a diagnostic test for scoliosis, which is assessed by curvature and radiographic angles rather than a wiggle of the spinous processes. And while pinpointing the transverse processes helps you infer where rib attachments occur, the primary purpose of spinous wiggle is locating the thoracic transverse processes themselves, not directly mapping rib attachments.

Spinous wiggle is a palpation technique used to identify the thoracic transverse processes. By gently palpating along the spinous processes and applying a subtle wiggle, you can feel where a spinous process overlies a particular vertebral level and then locate the lateral projection of the transverse process at that same level. Knowing where the transverse process sits helps orient to thoracic vertebrae and their rib attachments.

This isn’t used to measure spinal cord length, so that option isn’t appropriate. It isn’t a diagnostic test for scoliosis, which is assessed by curvature and radiographic angles rather than a wiggle of the spinous processes. And while pinpointing the transverse processes helps you infer where rib attachments occur, the primary purpose of spinous wiggle is locating the thoracic transverse processes themselves, not directly mapping rib attachments.