Keywords
long head of the biceps tendon
secondary adhesive capsulitis
clinical tests
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction. The diagnosis of Pulley Lesion injuries predominantly relies on MRI findings. Clinical diagnosis of this condition is often undervalued, and many clinicians do not use clinical tests to identify Pulley Lesion injuries.
Objective. This study aims to determine the sensitivity and specificity of clinical tests for the diagnosis of ligamentous injuries of the long head of the biceps tendon (Pulley Lesion) in patients with secondary adhesive capsulitis (AC).
Materials and Methods. We examined and surgically treated 54 patients with secondary AC resulting from Pulley Lesion at the Department of Microsurgery and Reconstructive Surgery of the Upper Limb. All patients underwent the following clinical tests: active and passive range of motion loss test in all planes, Carbone test (coracoid pain test), external rotation test (Wolf test), stretch after passive external rotation (Noboa test), O’Brian’s SLAP test, and Compression rotation test.
Results. High sensitivity for diagnosing secondary AC due to Pulley Lesion was demonstrated by the O’Brian’s SLAP test (sensitivity 85%, specificity 61%), while the Compression rotation test showed a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 59% (p≤0.05). Tests for diagnosing idiopathic AC in early stages did not show high sensitivity or specificity in patients with secondary AC resulting from Pulley Lesion.
Conclusions. We did not identify any high-sensitivity or high-specificity clinical test for diagnosing secondary AC resulting from Pulley Lesion injury.
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