Elbow Pain: Examination

A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:

• General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; further:
  • Inspection (looking at) and palpation (feeling) of the shoulder, upper and lower arm, and hands.
  • Palpation (palpation) of prominent bone points, tendons, ligaments; musculature; joint (joint effusion?); soft tissue swelling; pressure painfulness (localization!)Note: In chronic elbow pain, the cervical spine must also be examined for orientation! Nerve root compression of the C6 or C7 nerve root affect a dermatome (skin area supplied autonomously by the sensitive fibers of a spinal nerve root / spinal cord root), which mimics the radiations of epicondylopathy (due tothe diagnosis of tennis elbow).
  • Measurement of joint mobility and range of motion of the joint (according to the neutral zero method: the range of motion is expressed as the maximum displacement of the joint from the neutral position in angular degrees, where the neutral position is designated as 0°. The starting position is the “neutral position”: the person stands upright with the arms hanging down and relaxed, the thumbs pointing forward and the feet parallel. The adjacent angles are defined as the zero position. Standard is that the value away from the body is given first). Comparative measurements with the contralateral joint (side comparison) can reveal even small lateral differences.
  • If necessary, special functional tests depending on the affected joint; isometric tests.
• Orthopedic examination – including range of motion.
• Neurological examination – including testing of reflexes, sensitivity, motor skills.

Sports activities and possible diseases

For symptomatology of diseases, see differential diagnoses.