Test INTERPRETATION/WHAT TISSUE STRUCTURE DOES THIS TEST
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Forcing the extended wrist into flexion stretches the extensor muscles of the
Cozen’s Test forearm and their attaching tendons originating at the lateral epicondyle , which
can cause irritation to the tendons and reproduce the symptoms of lateral
epicondylitis.
Mill’s Test This maneuver places stress on the lateral epicondyle muscle attachment point.
Froment’s Test This maneuver tests the strength of the adductor pollicus of the thumb, which is
innervated by the ulnar nerve and is weakened in ulnar nerve palsy.
Polk Lift Test This test is designed to help to diagnostically differentiate between Lateral
Epicondylitis and Medial Epicondylitis, 2 of the most common causes of elbow pain.
Finkelstein’s Test This maneuver uses the combination of maximum finger flexion and wrist ulnar
deviation to elongate the irritated or inflamed tendons of abductor pollicis longus
and extensor pollicus brevis which produces pain in symptomatic individuals,
thereby making thumb and wrist movement painful.
TFCC Test This test is a compression load procedure used to identify trauma to Triangular
Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC).
Phalen’s Test This wrist flexing maneuver is designed to increase the pressure in the carpal tunnel
by compressing the median nerve between the transverse carpal ligament (flexor
retinaculum) and the anterior border of the distal end of the radius.
Bunnel Littler’s This maneuver evaluates the source of PIP flexion motion limitation by
differentiating between intrinsic muscle or capsular tightness in the affected digit.
Test
Tinel’s Wrist Test This test is used to help diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome and can be used as
indication for medical management.
Kirk Watson Test It is a provocative test which determines the stability of the scaphoid by stressing it
A-P.
Pathology Tests Clinical Picture SMR Exam Findings
Lateral Epicondylitis - Cozen’s The most prominent symptom of
Test epicondylitis lateralis is sudden
- Mill’s Test severe pain, 5mm anterior and
distal to the lateral epicondyle is
most common. This pain can be
produced by palpation on the
extensor muscles origin on the
lateral epicondyle. The pain can
radiate upwards along the upper
arm and downwards along the
outside of the forearm and in rare
cases even to the third and fourth
fingers. Furthermore it is also
often seen that the flexibility and
strength in the wrist extensor and
posterior shoulder muscles are
deficient.
Medial Epicondylitis - Reverse The most common symptom of
Cozen’s medial epicondylitis is pain. The
Test most sensitive region is located
- Polk test near the origin of the wrist
flexors on the medial
epicondyle of the humerus.
Sometimes the patient also
experiences pain on the ulnar
side of the forearm, the wrist
and occasionally in the fingers.
The pain is evoked by resisted
flexion of the wrist and by
pronation.
Elbow Bursitis - Restricted Olecranon bursitis may present
ROM after a single episode of trauma
or, more commonly, after
repeated trauma. Bursitis can
also develop in those who rest
their elbow on a hard surface for
long periods of time. Due to its
superficial position over the
olecranon, the bursa is prone to
injury by friction or a blow.
Elbow Tendinitis - Polk test Elbow Tendinitis is
inflammation of the forearm
muscle tendons which extend or
flex the wrist and fingers. The
inflammation is the result of
micro-tears that happen when the
musculotendinous unit is acutely
overloaded with a tensile force
that are repetitive, too heavy
and/or too sudden.
Wrist Fracture (FOOSH) - X-ray Local pain and tenderness with
reduced mobility caused by a fall
on an outstretched hand
Carpal Tunnel - Phalen Test Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)
Syndrome - Tinel's sign occurs when the median nerve,
at the wrist which runs from the forearm into
the palm of the hand, becomes
pressed or squeezed at the wrist.
Symptoms usually start
gradually, with frequent
numbness or tingling in the
fingers, especially the thumb and
the index and middle
fingers. Pain in carpal tunnel
syndrome is primarily numbness
that is so intense that it wakes
one from sleep with the
hypothesis that the wrists are
held flexed during sleep.
Long-standing CTS leads to
permanent nerve damage with
constant numbness, atrophy of
some of the muscles of the
thenar eminence, and weakness
of palmar abduction.
