Painful Arc Test
“Painful Arc Test. The patient stands and, while being observed by the clinician, is asked to actively abduct the involved shoulder. A positive test for subacromial impingement is indicated if the patient reports shoulder pain in the 60–120-degree range. Pain outside this range is considered a negative test, and pain that increases in severity as the arm reaches 180 degrees is indicative of “a disorder of the A-C joint.” The painful arc test has a specificity of 80%.127 However, although this test is good at detecting subacromial impingement, a positive finding is unlikely to aid the clinician in determining a specific diagnosis as there are a number of conditions that can be provoked with arm elevation (Table 16-25)”1
References
1.
Dutton M. Dutton’s Orthopaedic Examination, Evaluation, and Intervention. 5th ed. McGraw Hill Education; 2020.
Citation
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