Which test is used to identify internal disk disruption?

• A. Milgram's Test
• B. Hoover Test
• C. Larson Test
• D. Bump Test

Answer: (C)

Internal disc disruption is a source of discogenic low back pain driven by annular tears and changes in intradiscal pressure. Tests that provoke the disc itself by loading or stressing the motion segment help identify this source of pain. The Larson test is designed to reproduce the patient’s deep, central low back pain by applying loading that increases the disc’s internal stress, so a positive result points toward the disc as the pain generator rather than nerve roots or facet joints. This disc-focused provocation is what makes the Larson test the best choice for identifying internal disk disruption. Other tests target different structures or concepts—Milgram’s test to suggest disc herniation with axial loading, Hoover’s test to detect non-organic effort or malingering, and the bump test to assess facet/pars pathology—so they don’t specifically identify IDD.