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Clinical test — professional use

Painful arc (clinical)

Identify mid-range pain during active abduction.

🔬 Beyond Rehab Science
AMBER — get assessed before starting rehab
Performed and interpreted by a trained clinician. Shown here so you can understand what an assessment involves—not for self-diagnosis.
PurposeIdentify mid-range pain during active abduction.
Procedure
  1. The patient raises the arm in the frontal or scapular plane while the clinician observes for a painful mid-range arc.
Positive resultPain in mid-range (commonly described around 60°–120°) that eases above it.
InterpretationConsistent with subacromial or cuff pain; often combined with other tests.
Diagnostic accuracySensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios will be shown once verified against the cited review(s). Values are never estimated.
Used for
Shoulder impingement (subacromial pain syndrome)Rotator cuff injury (tear / tendinopathy)
Research
  1. [External] Hermans J, Luime JJ, Meuffels DE, et al. Does this patient with shoulder pain have rotator cuff disease? The Rational Clinical Examination systematic review. JAMA, 2013. find original ↗