Physical Examination of the Shoulder in the Rehabilitation Setting: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Shoulder pain (SP) is one of the most common complaints encountered in patients attending rehabilitation settings. Rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathies and subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) are the most common disorders involved in SP. Physical examination (PE) is essential to perform the correct diagnosis and treatment. In fact, in the rehabilitation settings, patients are treated based on clinical symptoms and PE as well as clinical evolution. There are 184 maneuvers to evaluate the shoulder complex. PE is extremely important to evaluate the presence, location, and extent of RC tear or shoulder pathology. Unfortunately, PE is neither sensitive nor specific enough to diagnose a unique disorder. The current study aimed at reviewing the main features of clinical and physical evaluation and diagnostic accuracies of the most common PE tests performed in the rehabilitation settings.