Clinical tests and examination of the Shoulder - Everything You Need To Know - Dr. Nabil Ebraheim

Dr. Ebraheim’s educational animated video describes clinical evaluation tests of the shoulder.

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Clinical Evaluation of the Shoulder
In the general evaluation, you need to take the patient’s history and provide an exam. Be aware that diabetes and hypothyroidism can cause adhesive capsulitis. Check the range of motion and compare the range of motion of the shoulder with the other side. Try to differentiate between shoulder pain and neck pain. shoulder pain tends to be over the posterolateral aspect of the deltoid muscle. Neck pain tends to be localized over the trapezius muscle and may radiate to the upper extremity. The Spurling’s test is a specific test for evaluation of the cervical nerve root impingement in which the patient extends the neck with lateral flexion and rotation towards the affected side with axial compression. A positive Spurling’s test will reproduce pain in the upper extremity that is attributed to nerve root compression. To perform the cross-body abduction test, the patient will be standing or sitting upright with the arm adducted across the body. The examiner will use one hand to push the elbow of the affected arm to maximally adduct the arm across the body with the other hand palpating the AC joint. Positive findings are present when the patient experiences pain and tenderness at the AC joint. This means that there is an AC joint pathology.