[Physical diagnosis--percussion and palpation of liver]

Percussion and palpation of the liver can produce useful information regarding size, consistency and the surface of the lower liver edge. However, the accuracy of the physical examination of the liver is limited, especially concerning the predictive value of the absence at physical examination of hepatomegaly (> or = 15 cm liver width in the right midclavicular line) for the absence of a truly enlarged liver. Also, the inter-observer variability may be considerable. These limitations of the test may be partly due to a number of pitfalls and misconceptions concerning physical examination of the liver.