Meningeale prikkeling

Conflict of interest: none declared. Financial support: none declared.

• Diagnosing meningitis requires the information from both history-taking and physical examination in its entirety.

• In adults with a history that makes meningitis a possibility, specific tests used to diagnose meningeal irritation, such as for Kernig or Brudzinski signs or nuchal rigidity, probably do not affect the reliability of the diagnosis.

• In small children and the elderly, Kernig and Brudzinski signs are also probably of little or no diagnostic value.