When ascites is doubtful, deep ballottement can be used by placing the fingertips at right angles to the abdominal wall. Deep and very quick palpation is done by keeping the fingers together. When the pressure is less, the fingers must stay in contact with the wall of abdomen.
Ballottement is also a palpatory technique for discovering or analyzing a floating object in the body as in the use of a finger to push sharply against