Family Nurse Practitioner Exam

The cremasteric reflex is initiated by which action?

1. Asking the patient to open their mouth and touching the back of the pharynx

2. Hitting the biceps tendon briskly with a reflex hammer

3. Hitting the patellar tendon briskly with a reflex hammer

4. Stroking the inner thigh of a male client

The correct answer is: Stroking the inner thigh of a male client

The cremasteric reflex is a specific reflex arc that involves the contraction of the cremaster muscle, which causes the testis to rise. This reflex is stimulated by sensory input from the inner thigh, where skin stimulation occurs. When the inner thigh is stroked, sensory receptors in that area send signals through the ilioinguinal nerve and the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve to the spinal cord, which then triggers a motor response that causes the contraction of the cremaster muscle. This function is primarily protective, helping to regulate the temperature of the testes as well as serving as a response to physical stimuli. In contrast, the other actions listed in the choices involve different reflex arcs that do not engage the cremaster muscle. For example, asks involving the mouth or other muscle groups such as the biceps or patellar tendons engage different reflexes entirely, such as the gag reflex, biceps reflex, or patellar reflex, respectively. Thus, stroking the inner thigh distinctly elicits the cremasteric reflex due to the specific neurological pathways involved.