Two-point discrimination

The smallest distance at which two points touching the skin simultaneously are perceived as separate, tested statically or with the points moving, and used to grade discriminative sensation after nerve repair. Technique is poorly standardised and the cut-offs for excellent, good and poor results vary between authors, so comparisons between series are unreliable.

Related terms

• Outcome measure

  MRC grading

  The Medical Research Council scales used to grade recovery after nerve repair: motor power from M0 (no contraction) to M5 (normal), and sensation from S0 (absent) to S4 (complete recovery), with S3 the return of superficial pain and tactile sensibility without over-response. In outcome research, M4–M5 and S3+–S4 are conventionally called satisfactory recovery.

• Treatment

  Sensory re-education

  A programme of graded tactile exercises, begun early or late after nerve repair, that trains the cortex to reinterpret the altered input from a reinnervated hand. First formalised by Dellon, Curtis and Edgerton in 1974; immediate re-education with audio-tactile feedback improved tactile gnosis in a randomised trial, while the evidence for conventional programmes remains limited.

Articles mentioning this term

1. FESSH preparation · 26 September 2026

   Clinical examination of the hand and wrist

   Hand and wrist examination for FESSH candidates: how accurate the Phalen, Tinel, scratch collapse, Elson, Watson, grind, fovea and Allen tests really are.

2. FESSH preparation · 26 September 2026

   Peripheral nerve injury and repair

   Peripheral nerve injury for FESSH candidates: degeneration, Seddon and Sunderland grades, electrodiagnosis, timing, grafts, conduits and nerve transfers.

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