Evaluation of the Shoulder

Shoulder Anatomy (Anterior View)

Physical examination of the shoulder involves

• Inspection

• Palpation for tenderness and excessive warmth

• Range of motion and strength testing

• Tests for impingement

How to Examine the Shoulder

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Inspection includes observation for erythema, deformity, or skin lesions, including surgical scars, and for asymmetry compared to the unaffected shoulder (suggesting muscle wasting).

Because pain can be referred from other areas to areas around the shoulder, shoulder palpation should include the glenohumeral, acromioclavicular, and sternoclavicular joints, the coracoid process, clavicle, acromion process, subacromial bursa, biceps tendon, and greater and lesser tuberosities of the humerus (see figure Shoulder Anatomy), as well as the scapula and the neck. The neck is examined as part of any shoulder evaluation because pain can be referred to the shoulder from the cervical spine (particularly with C5 radiculopathy).

Glenohumeral joint effusions may cause a bulge between the coracoid process and the humeral head. Possible causes include rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, acute infectious arthritis, Milwaukee shoulder, calcium pyrophosphate arthritis (pseudogout), and other arthropathies.

Limited range of motion, weakness, pain, and other disturbances of mobility caused by rotator cuff impairment can be quickly identified by having the patient attempt—by both abduction and flexion—to raise both arms above the head and then to slowly lower them. Specific maneuvers against resistance can help determine which tendons are affected. Strength and sensation should be assessed:

• The infraspinatus and teres minor are assessed by having the patient resist external rotation pressure with the arms held at the sides with elbows flexed to 90°; this position isolates rotator cuff muscle function from that of other muscles such as the deltoid. Weakness during this test suggests significant rotator cuff dysfunction (eg, a complete tear).

• The supraspinatus is assessed by having the patient resist downward pressure on the arms held in flexion (forward) with the thumbs pointing downward and the elbow extended (empty can, or Jobe test).

• The subscapularis is assessed by having the patient place the hand behind the back with the back of the hand resting on the lower back. The examiner lifts the hand off the lower back. The patient should be able to keep the hand off the skin of the back (Gerber lift-off test).

The Apley scratch test assesses combined shoulder range of motion by having the patient attempt to touch the opposite scapula: Reaching overhead, behind the neck, and to the opposite scapula with the tips of the fingers tests abduction and external rotation; reaching under, behind the back, and across to the opposite scapula with the back of the hand tests adduction and internal rotation.

Impingement tests are considered if pain is elicited. They include the following:

• The Neer test is done to check for impingement of the rotator cuff tendons under the coracoacromial arch. It is done by placing the arm in forced forward flexion, lifted overhead, and fully pronated.

• The Hawkins test is done also to check for impingement. It is done by flexing the arm (forward) to 90°, placing the pronated elbow in 90° of flexion, and then forcibly rotating the shoulder internally (moving the hand downward).