Understanding the Infraspinatus Test Assessment
The infraspinatus muscle is one of the rotator cuff muscles. Rotator cuff muscles dysfunction leads to shoulder impingement as the head of the humorous superiorly migrates during arm elevation. Infrapinatus muscle is often involved in shoulder pathologies as shoulder impingement and rotator cuff tears.The Infraspinatus test is used to test for infraspinatus muscle involvment in rotator cuff pathologies such as subacromial impingement or rotator cuff tears.
Watch How It's Done
How do I start?
Patient is standing with the arm at the side, elbow at 90°, and the humerus medially rotated to 45°.
What happens?
The patient arms should be at his side not quite touching his trunk, with the elbows flexed to 90 degrees. The examiner places his hand on the dorsum of the patient’s hands. The patient is asked to externally rotate both forearms against the examiner’s resistance. The test is positive when there is weakness or pain in external rotation. Infraspinatus tears are usually painless so external rotation weakness strongly suggests infraspinatus tear.
In Plain English
What Does a Positive Result Mean?
Pain or the **inability to resist medial rotation** (weakness) compared to the unaffected side, indicating an infraspinatus strain or tear.
Helpful Tip:
This test attempts to isolate the infraspinatus, which is the primary external rotator of the shoulder.
Safety First
This guide is to help you understand what happens in a clinic. Do not try to diagnose yourself. If you have severe pain, swelling, or cannot put weight on your leg, please visit an urgent care center or your doctor immediately.
Other shoulder Tests
Adson's Test
To assess for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) due to compression of the neurovascular bundle by the anterior and middle scalene muscles.
Anterior Drawer Test Of The Shoulder
To assess for anterior glenohumeral joint laxity and instability and the integrity of the anterior capsular structures.
Arm Squeeze Test
This is a new clinical test that may be useful to distinguish between Cervical radiculopathy from other shoulders related pathology. The anatomic reasoning behind this test is that because the musculocutaneous nerve (cervical root from C5 to C7), the radial nerve (from C5 to T1), the ulnar nerve (from C7 to T1), and the median nerve (from C5 to T1) are relatively superficial in the middle third of the arm and easy to elicit a painful provocation response by squeezing the arm. A moderate compression of skin, subcutis, and muscle by squeezing the middle third of the upper arm (brachial biceps and triceps area) on the side with shoulder pain elicits an intense reaction of local pain only in patients with cervical nerve root compression from C5 to T1, not when the pain arises from the shoulder.
Bear Hug Test
To assess for a tear or significant weakness in the **subscapularis tendon** (subscapularis strength).