In medicine, Hoffmann's sign, named after the German physiologist, Paul Hoffmann (1884–1962, physiologist in Freiburg) is a distal sign of nerve regeneration.
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Definition
A Hoffmann (or Tinel's sign or Patel's sign) is a tingling sensation triggered by a mechanical stimulus in the distal part of an injured nerve. This sensation radiates peripherally, from the point where it is triggered to the cutaneous distribution of the nerve. The tingling response can be compared with that produced by a weak electric current, as in transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). This unpleasant sensation is not a severe pain and does not persist.
History
First described in 1907 by the British surgeons: Wilfred Trotter & H. Morriston Davies.
In March 1915, Paul Hoffmann described the distal regeneration sign which was subsequently named Hoffmann's sign. In October 1915, Jules Tinel independently described the same phenomenon in French "le signe de fourmillement": Tinel's sign.