The painful arc sign is used to identify subacromial impingement of the supraspinatus tendon or subacromial bursae.
How to Perform Painful Arc Test
Position of Patient: Patient is sitting or standing with arm relaxed at side.
Performance: Instruct the patient to fully raise arm in the scapular plane (30 degrees from frontal plane). The patient should inform the examiner of any pain that occurs during the motion and when it occurs.
How to Interpret Painful Arc Sign
Positive Finding: The test is considered positive if the patient experiences pain between 60 and 120 degrees of elevation. A positive test may support subacromial impingement.
Test Accuracy / Reliability / Evidence:
Horizontal Adduction Test Sensitivity and Specificity
Sensitivity = 0.74
Specificity = 0.81
+LR = 3.9
– LR = 0.32
Source: Park HB, Yokota A, Gill HS, et al: Diagnostic accuracy of clinical tests for the different degrees of subacromial impingement syndrome. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2005; 87: pp. 1446-1455
The painful arc sign is used to identify subacromial impingement of the supraspinatus tendon or subacromial bursae.
To perform the painful arc test, position the patient in sitting or standing with arm relaxed at the patient’s side.
Instruct the patient to fully raise their arm in the scapular plane (30 degrees from frontal plane). The patient should inform the examiner of any pain that occurs during the motion and exactly when it occurs.
The test is considered positive if the patient experiences pain between 60 and 120 degrees of elevation. A positive test may support subacromial impingement.
