Добавил:
kiopkiopkiop18@yandex.ru t.me/Prokururor I Вовсе не секретарь, но почту проверяю Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз: Предмет: Файл:

Ординатура / Хирургия / Библиотека им академика М.И. Перельмана / Книга_549_Библиотеки_им_академика_М_И_Перельмана

.pdf
Скачиваний:
0
Добавлен:
29.08.2026
Размер:
84 Мб
Скачать
296 THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
https://t.me/medicina_free
13.8 The Beighton scoring system to assess hypermobility
Ask the patient to Score
Bring the thumb to touch the forearm, with the wrist exed
Extend the little nger >90 degrees, with the hand in a neutral position
Extend the elbow >10 degrees 1 point each side
Extend the knee >10 degrees 1 point each side
Touch the oor, with the palms of hands and the knees straight
A score of 4 indicates hypermobility
Reproduced from Beighton P, Solomon L, Soskolne CL. Articular mobility in an African population. Ann Rheum Dis. 1973; 32(5):413, with permission from BMJ Publishing Group.
Stand behind the patient, hold their pelvis, and ask them to
turn from side to side without moving their feet.
Ask them to slide their hand down the lateral aspect of their
leg towards their knee.
Stand in front of the patient. Ask them to put their ear to each
shoulder in turn.
Ask the patient to look down to the oor and then up to the
ceiling.
Ask them to open their jaw wide and move it from side to
side.
1 point each side
1 point each side
1 point
Hypermobility
Some patients have a greater than normal range of joint move­ment. If this is severe, patients may present with recurrent dis­locations or sensations of instability. Milder cases may develop arthralgia or be symptom-free. Mild hypermobility is normal, but Marfans and Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndromes (Box 13.8) cause signicant hypermobility.
Detailed examination of the musculoskeletal system
The GALS screen provides a rapid but limited assessment. This section describes the detailed examination required for thorough evaluation.
Gait
initial contact when the foot is off the ground. When both feet are on the ground, this is a double stance.
A limp, or antalgic gait, is an abnormal gait due to pain,
structural change or spasticity.
Examination sequence (Video 24A)
Ask the patient to walk barefoot in a straight line. Then repeat
in shoes.
Observe the patient from behind, in front and from the side.
Evaluate what happens at each level (foot, ankle, knee, hip and
pelvis, trunk and spine) during both stance and swing phases.
Pain
An antalgic gait is one altered to reduce pain. Pain in a lower limb is usually aggravated by weight bearing, so minimal time is spent in the stance phase on that side. This results in a dot–dash mode of walking. If the source of pain is in the spine, axial rotatory movements are decreased, resulting in a slow gait with small paces. Patients with hip pain may lean towards the affected side, as this decreases the joint reaction force in the hip joint.
Structural change
Patients with limb-length discrepancy may limp or walk on tiptoe on the shorter side, with compensatory hip and knee exion on the longer side. Assess for limb-length discrepancy (see
Fig. 13.36). Other structural changes producing an abnormal gait
include joint fusion, bone malunion and contracture.
Weakness
This may be due to nerve or muscle pathology or altered muscle tone. In a normal gait, the hip abductors of the stance leg raise the contralateral hemipelvis. In Trendelenburg gait, abductor function is poor when weight-bearing on the affected side, so the contralateral hemipelvis falls (see Fig. 13.37).
Common causes of a Trendelenburg gait are:
painful hip joint problems, as in osteoarthritis
weak hip abductors, as in poliomyelitis or after hip
replacement
structural hip joint problems, as in congenital dislocation.
A high-stepping gait occurs in foot drop due to common peroneal nerve palsy. The knee is raised high to bring the weak foot off the ground.
Gait is the cyclical pattern of musculoskeletal motion that carries the body forwards. Normal gait is smooth, symmetrical and ergonomically economical, with each leg 50% out of phase with the other. It has two phases: stance and swing. The stance phase is from initial contact to toe-off, when the foot is on the ground and load-bearing. The swing phase is from toe-off to
Increased tone
This occurs with upper motor neurone lesions, such as cere­brovascular accident (stroke) or cerebral palsy. The gait depends on the specic lesion, contractures and compensatory mecha­nisms (see Box 7.7 on p. XXX).
Detailed examination of the musculoskeletal system • 297
https://t.me/medicina_free
Spine
The spine is divided into the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral segments (Fig. 13.11). Most spinal diseases affect multiple seg­ments, causing altered posture or function of the whole spine. Spinal disease may occur without local symptoms, presenting with referred pain, neurological symptoms or signs in the trunk or limbs. Common causes of spinal pain are shown in Box 13.9.
Denitions
Scoliosis is the lateral curvature of the spine (Fig. 13.12A).
Kyphosis is the curvature of the spine in the sagittal (anterior– posterior) plane, with the apex posterior (see Fig. 13.12B). The thoracic spine normally has a mild kyphosis.
Lordosis is the curvature of the spine in the sagittal plane, with the apex anterior (see Fig. 13.12C).
C1
1
C1
C2
2
2
C3
3
3
4
C4
5
T10
T11
T12
4
C5
6
5
C6
C7 C8 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5
T6
T7
T8
T9
L1
L2
L3
L4
L5
S1 S2
S3 S4 S5
Co
7
6
7
T1
10
11
12
L1
2
3
4
5
C5, C6 – Arm abduction
Elbow flexion
C6, C7 – Wrist extension
C7, C8 – Elbow extension
C8, T1 – Finger abduction
T2–T7 – Chest muscles
T9–T12 – Abdominal muscles
L1, L3, L4 – Knee extension
Cauda equina
L4, L5, S1, S2 – Knee flexion
L4, L5 – Ankle dorsiflexion
L5, S1 – Great toe extension
S1, S2 – Ankle plantar flexion
Hand grasp
L1, L2, L3 – Hip flexion
S2, S3, S4 – Voluntary
rectal tone
Fig. 13.11 The normal spinal curves and root innervations.
Cervical lordosis
8
1
2
2
3
3
4
5
4
6
5
7
6
8
7
9
10
8
11
9
12
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
Lumbar lordosis
Thoracic kyphosis
Gibbus is a spinal deformity caused by an anterior wedge deformity of a single vertebra, producing localised angular exion (see Fig. 13.12D).
Cervical spine
Anatomy and physiology
Head nodding occurs at the atlanto-occipital joint, and rotational neck movements mainly at the atlantoaxial joint. Flexion, exten­sion and lateral exion occur mainly at the mid-cervical level. The
13.9 Common spinal problems
Mechanical back pain
Prolapsed intervertebral disc
Spinal stenosis
Axial Spondyloarthritis
Compensatory scoliosis from leg-length discrepancy
Cervical myelopathy
Pathological pain/deformity (e.g. osteomyelitis, tumour, myeloma)
Osteoporotic vertebral fracture resulting in kyphosis (or rarely lordosis),
especially in the thoracic spine with loss of height
Cervical rib
Scoliosis
Spinal instability (e.g. spondylolisthesis)
Scoliosis
AB
Increased lumbar lordosis
CD
Fig. 13.12 Spinal deformities.
Kyphosis
Gibbus
13
298 THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
https://t.me/medicina_free
neural canal contains the spinal cord and the emerging nerve roots, which pass through the exit foramina bounded by the facet joints posteriorly and the intervertebral discs and neuro­central joints anteriorly. The nerve roots, particularly in the lower cervical spine, may be compressed or irritated by lateral disc protrusion or by osteophytes arising from the facet or neuro­central joints. Central disc protrusions may press directly on the cord (see Fig. 7.30 on p. 166).
The history
The most common symptoms are pain and difculty turning the head and neck. Neck pain is usually felt posteriorly but may be referred to the head, shoulder, arm or interscapular region. Cervical disc lesions cause radicular pain in one arm or the other, roughly following the dermatomes of the affected nerve roots (see Box 13.3). If the spinal cord is compromised (cervical myelopathy), upper motor neurone leg weakness, altered sensation and sphincter disturbance may occur.
The physical examination
Be particularly careful when examining patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as atlantoaxial instability can lead to spinal cord damage when the neck is exed.
In patients with neck injury, never move the neck. Splint it and check for abnormal posture. Check for neurological function in the limbs and x-ray or computed tomography (CT) to assess bony injury.
Examination sequence (Video 25)
Ask the patient to remove enough clothing for you to see their neck and upper thorax, then direct them to sit on a chair.
Look
Face the patient. Observe the posture of their head and neck.
Note any abnormality (Box 13.10), such as loss of lordosis (usually due to muscle spasm).
Feel
Feel the midline spinous processes from the occiput to T1
(usually the most prominent).
Feel the paraspinal soft tissues.
Feel the supraclavicular fossae for cervical ribs or enlarged
lymph nodes.
Feel the anterior neck structures, including the thyroid.
Note any tenderness in the spine, trapezius, interscapular
and paraspinal muscles.
Move
Assess active movements (Fig. 13.13). Ask the patient to:
Look down to the oor so you can assess forward exion.
The normal range is 0 (neutral) to 80 degrees. Record the decreased range as the chin–chest distance.
Look upwards at the ceiling as far back as possible, to
assess extension. The normal range is 0 (neutral) to 50 de­grees. The combined exion–extension arc is normally approximately 130 degrees.
Put their ear on to their shoulder so that you can assess
lateral exion. The normal range is 0 (neutral) to 45 degrees.
Look over their right/left shoulder. The normal range of lateral
rotation is 0 (neutral) to 80 degrees.
If any of the active movements are reduced, gently perform passive movements. Conrm whether the end of a range has a sudden or gradual resistance, plus whether it is pain or stiffness that restricts movement. Pain or paraesthesiae in the arm on passive neck movement suggests nerve root involvement.
Thoracic spine
Anatomy and physiology
This segment of the spine is the least mobile and maintains a physiological kyphosis throughout life. Movement is mainly rotational with a very limited amount of exion, extension and lateral exion.
13.10 Causes of abnormal neck posture
Loss of lordosis or exion deformity
Acute lesions, rheumatoid arthritis, trauma
Increased lordosis
Axial Spondyloarthritis
Torticollis (wry neck)
Sternocleidomastoid spasm, contracture, trauma
Pharyngeal/parapharyngeal infection
Lateral exion
Erosion of lateral mass of atlas in rheumatoid arthritis
Neutral
Fig. 13.13 Movements of the cervical spine.
Rotation
Lateral flexionFlexion and extension
Detailed examination of the musculoskeletal system 299
https://t.me/medicina_free
The history
Presenting symptoms in the thoracic spine are: localised spinal pain (Box 13.11), pain radiating round the chest wall or, less frequently, signs of cord compression – upper motor neurone leg weakness (paraparesis), sensory loss, and loss of bladder or bowel control. Thoracic spine disc lesions are rare but may cause pain radiating around the chest, mimicking cardiac or pleural disease. Osteoporotic vertebral fractures can present with acute pain or painless loss of height with increased kyphosis.
Vertebral collapse from malignancy may cause cord compression. Infection causes acute pain, often with systemic upset or fever. With poorly localised thoracic pain, consider intrathoracic causes such as myocardial ischaemia or infarction, oesophageal or pleural pain, and aortic aneurysm.
The physical examination
Examination sequence (Video 26)
Ask the patient to undress to expose their neck, chest and back.
Look
With the patient standing, inspect their posture from behind,
from the side and the front, noting any deformity, such as a rib hump or abnormal curvature (see Fig. 13.12).
Feel
Palpate the midline spinous processes from T1 to T12. Feel
for increased prominence of one or more posterior spinal processes, implying an anterior wedge-shaped collapse of the vertebral body.
Feel the paraspinal soft tissues for tenderness.
Move
Ask the patient to sit with their arms crossed. Ask them to
twist round both ways and look behind.
Lumbar spine
Anatomy and physiology
The surface markings are the spinous process of L4, which is level with the pelvic brim, and the dimples of Venus, overlying the sacroiliac joints. The normal lordosis may be lost in disorders such as axial spondyloarthritis and lumbar disc protrusion.
13.11 Causes of thoracic spine pain
Adolescents and young adults
Scheuermann’s disease
Axial spondyloarthritis
Middle-aged and elderly
Degenerative change
Dissecting aortic aneurysm
Any age
Tumour Infection
Disc protrusion (rare)
Osteoporotic fracture
The principal movements are exion, extension, lateral exion and rotation. In exion, the upper segments move rst, followed by the lower segments, to produce a smooth lumbar curve. However, even with a rigid lumbar spine, patients may be able to touch their toes if their hips are mobile.
In an adult, the spinal cord ends at L2. Below this, only the spinal nerve roots may be injured by disc protrusion.
The history
Low back pain is an extremely common symptom. Most commonly this is mechanicaland caused by degenerative changes in discs and facet joints (spondylosis).
Analyse the symptoms using SOCRATES. For back pain, ask specically about:
occupational or recreational activity that may strain the back
additional clinical features suggesting signicant spinal pa-
thology (Box 13.12)
prior treatment with glucocorticoids.
Radicular pain, caused by sciatic nerve root compression, radiates down the posterior aspect of the leg to the lower leg or ankle (sciatica). Groin and thigh pain in the absence of hip ab­normality suggests referred pain from L1 to L2.
Consider also abdominal and retroperitoneal pathology, such as abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Mechanical low back pain is common after standing for too long or sitting in a poor position. Symptoms worsen as the day progresses and improve after resting.
13.12 Important features for history-taking in acute low back pain
Features that may indicate serious pathology and require urgent referral
History
Age <20 years or >55 years
Recent signicant trauma
(fracture)
Pain:
Non-mechanical (infection/
tumour/pathological fracture)
Fever (infection)
Difculty in micturition
Past medical history
Cancer (metastases)
Previous glucocorticoid use (osteoporotic collapse)
System review
Weight loss/malaise without obvious cause (e.g. cancer)
Psychosocial factors associated with greater likelihood of long­term chronicity and disability
A history of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome,
chronic fatigue, social withdrawal
A belief that the diagnosis is severe (e.g. cancer). Faulty beliefs can
lead to catastrophisationand avoidance of activity
Lack of belief that the patient can improve leads to an expectation that
only passive, rather than active, treatment will be effective
Ongoing litigation or compensation claims (e.g. work, road trafcaccident)
Faecal incontinence
Motor weakness
Sensory changes in the
perineum (saddle anaesthesia)
Sexual dysfunction (e.g. erectile/
ejaculatory failure)
Gait change (cauda equina
syndrome)
Bilateral ‘sciatica’
13
300 THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
https://t.me/medicina_free
Insidious onset of back or buttock ache and stiffness in an adolescent or young adult suggests inammatory disease of the sacroiliac joints and lumbar spine (axial spondyloarthritis,
Box 13.13). Symptoms are worse in the morning or after inac-
tivity and ease with movement. Morning stiffness is more marked than in osteoarthritis or mechanical pain, lasting at least 30 mi­nutes. Other clues to the diagnosis are peripheral joint involve­ment, extra-articular features or a positive family history.
Acute onset of low back pain in a young adult, often associ­ated with bending or lifting, is typical of an acute disc protrusion (slipped disc). Coughing or straining to open the bowels exac­erbates the pain. There may be symptoms of lumbar or sacral nerve root compression. Cauda equina syndrome occurs when a central disc prolapses or another space-occupying lesion com­presses the cauda equina. There are features of sensory and
13.13 Clinical vignette: back pain
A 34-year-old man attends his general practitioners surgery with back pain. He rst developedpain in his late teens, but it improvedfor a few years.He has had persistent pain in hislowerback and sometimesinhisbuttocks for5 years now. It wakes him from sleep, and he can be very stiff in the mornings, althoughthis eases as the morningprogresses.There is no radiationto the leg. He is stiff after sitting or driving. He has always put it down to his occupation. He has used ibuprofen to good effect but has had diarrhoea and abdominal pain recently, which he attributes to this drug. Examination in the outpatient clinic shows a thin man with reduced lumbar mobility (modied Schobers index, reducedat 2 cm; see Fig. 13.15), pain on sacroiliac jointcompression, and tenderness at his Achilles insertion. Investigations show him to have a raised C-reactive protein, an anaemia of chronic disease, a positive human leucocyte antigen B27 and a raised faecal calprotectin, suggesting inam­matory bowel disease. Magnetic resonance imaging conrms bilateral sac­roiliitis and inammatory changes in the lumbar spine. A diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis is made.
Axial spondyloarthritis. The patient trying to touch his toes.
motor disturbance, including diminished perianal sensation and disturbance of bladder function. The motor disturbance may be profound, as in paraplegia. Cauda equina syndrome and spinal cord compression are neurosurgical emergencies.
Acute back pain in the middle-aged, elderly or those with risk factors, such as glucocorticoid therapy, may be due to osteo­porotic fracture. This is eased by lying, exacerbated by spinal exion and not usually associated with neurological symptoms.
Acute onset of severe progressive pain, especially when associated with malaise, weight loss or night sweats, may indi­cate pyogenic or tuberculous infection of the lumbar spine or sacroiliac joint. The infection may involve the intervertebral discs and adjacent vertebrae and may track into the psoas muscle sheath, presenting as a painful exed hip or groin swelling.
Consider a malignant disease involving a vertebral body in patients with unremitting spinal pain of recent onset that disturbs sleep. Other clues are a previous history of cancer, and systemic symptoms or weight loss.
Chronic intermittent pain in the lumbar spine is typical of degenerative disc disease. There is stiffness in the morning or after immobility. Pain and stiffness are relieved by gentle activity but recur with, or after, excessive activity.
Diffuse pain in the buttocks or thighs brought on by standing too long or walking is the presenting symptom of lumbosacral spinal stenosis. This can be difcult to distinguish from intermit­tent claudication (Chapter 4, p. 70). The pain may be accom­panied by tingling and numbness. Typically, it is relieved by rest or spinal exion. Stooping or holding on to a supermarket trolley may increase exercise tolerance.
The physical examination
Examination sequence
Ask the patient to stand with their back fully exposed.
Look
Look for obvious deformity (decreased/increased lordosis,
scoliosis) and soft-tissue abnormalities such as a hairy patch or lipoma that might overlie a congenital abnormality, for example, spina bida.
Feel
Palpate the spinous processes and paraspinal tissues. Note
overall alignment and focal tenderness.
After warning the patient, lightly percuss the spine with your
closed st and note any tenderness.
Move (Fig. 13.14)
Flexion: ask the patient to try to touch their toes with their legs
straight. Record how far down the legs they can reach. Some of this movement depends on hip exion. Usually, the upper segments ex before the lower ones, but the progression should be smooth.
Extension: ask the patient to straighten up and lean back as
far as possible (normal 1020 degrees from a neutral erect posture).
Lateral exion: ask them to reach down to each side,
touching the outside of their leg as far down as possible while keeping their legs straight.
t
Detailed examination of the musculoskeletal system 301
https://t.me/medicina_free
Flexion Extension
Left Righ
RotationLateral flexion
Fig. 13.14 Movements of the lumbar and dorsal spine.
Special tests
Schobers test for forward exion
Examination sequence (Video 26A)
Mark the skin in the midline at the level of the posterior iliac
spines (L5) (Fig. 13.15; mark A).
Use a tape measure to draw two more marks: one 10 cm
above (mark B) and one 5 cm below this (mark C).
Place the end of the tape measure on the upper mark (B). Ask
the patient to touch their toes. The distance from B to C should increase from 15 to more than 20 cm.
In this test, the distance between the two points should in­crease by at least 5 cm. An increase of less than 5 cm indicates restriction in the lumbar spine that may be due to axial spondyloarthritis.
Root compression tests
Intervertebral disc prolapses causing nerve root pressure occurs most often in the lower lumbar region, leading to compression of the corresponding nerve roots.
The sciatic nerve (L4–5; S1–3) runs behind the pelvis, so straight-leg raising stretches the L4, L5 and S1 nerve roots (affected by L3/4, L4/5 and L5/S1 disc prolapse, respectively).
Fig. 13.15 Schobers test. When the patient bends forward maximally with
the knees straight, distance BC should increase by at least 5 cm.
The femoral nerve (L2–4) lies anterior to the pubic ramus, so straight-leg raising or other forms of hip exion do not pull on its roots. Problems with the femoral nerve roots may cause quad­riceps weakness and/or diminished knee jerk on that side.
Sciatic nerve stretch test (L4–S1)
Examination sequence (Videos 26B and 26C)
With the patient lying supine, lift their foot to ex the hip
passively, keeping the knee straight.
When a limit is reached, raise the leg to just less than this level,
and dorsiex the foot to test for nerve root tension (Fig. 13.16).
Femoral nerve stretch test (L2–4)
Examination sequence (Video 26D)
With the patient lying on their front (prone), ex their knee and
extend the hip (Fig. 13.17). This stretches the femoral nerve. A positive result is when pain is felt in the back or the front of the thigh. This test can, if necessary, be performed with the patient lying on their side (with the test side uppermost).
Flip test for functional overlay
Examination sequence
Ask the patient to sit on the end of the couch with their hips
and knees exed to 90 degrees (Fig. 13.18A).
Examine the knee reexes.
Extend the patient’s knee, as if to examine the ankle jerk. If
achieved, this puts the straight leg at 90 degrees of hip exion (see Fig. 13.18B) and excludes sciatic nerve root compres­sion; patients with root compression will lie back (ip).
Sacroiliac joints
In general, examination of the sacroiliac joints is unreliable.
13
A
302 THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
https://t.me/medicina_free
Fig. 13.16 Stretch test: sciatic nerve. A Straight-leg raising limited by
the tension of the root over a prolapsed disc. dorsiexion of the foot (Bragards test). at the knee. posterior tibial nerve, which is bowstringingacross the fossa, causing pain locally and radiation into the back.
D Pressure over the centre of the popliteal fossa bears on the
B Tension is increased by
C Root tension is relieved by exion
Examination sequence
Lay the patient supine, ex the hip to 90 degrees and press
down on the knee to transfer pressure through to the sacroiliac joints. This may cause pain in the buttock or lower back if the sacroiliac joint is inamed.
Upper limb
The prime function of the upper limb is to position the hand appropriately in space. This requires intact shoulder, elbow and wrist movements. The hand may function in both precision and power modes, with the intrinsic muscles of the hand providing
Fig. 13.17 Stretch test: femoral nerve. A Pain may be triggered by knee
exion alone. hip extension.
B Pain may be triggered by knee exion in combination with
Negative
B
Fig. 13.18 Sciatic nerve: iptest. A Divert the patients attention to the
tendon reexes. permit full extension of the leg.
grip and ne manipulative movements, and the forearm muscles supplying power and stability.
It is important to distinguish between systemic and local pa­thology. Systemic pathology, such as rheumatoid arthritis, usu­ally affects several sites. Local conditions should be differentiated from referred or radicular pain and establish whether the con­dition is inammatory or not from the pattern of diurnal stiffness and pain.
B The patient with physical nerve root compression cannot
Hand and wrist
The wrist joint has metacarpocarpal, intercarpal, ulnocarpal and radiocarpal components. Together, they provide a wide range of possible movements, including exion, extension, adduction (deviation towards the ulnar side), abduction (deviation towards the radial side) and composite movement of circumduction (the hand moves in a conical fashion on the wrist). Always name the affected digit (index, middle, ring, little ngers and thumb) in
Detailed examination of the musculoskeletal system • 303
https://t.me/medicina_free
documentation to avoid confusion. The PIP and DIP joints are hinge joints and allow only exion and extension. The MCP joints allow exion and extension, and some abduction/adduction, which is greatest when the MCP joints are extended.
Motor and sensory innervation of the hand is shown in
Fig. 7.27 on page 163.
The history
The patient will often localise symptoms of pain, stiffness, loss of function, contractures, disgurement and trauma. If symptoms are vague or diffuse, consider referred pain or a compressive neuropathy such as carpal tunnel syndrome (see Box 7.11 on p.
164). If PIP or MCP joint swelling is prominent, consider inam­matory arthritis.
Painful, swollen and stiff hand joints are common and impor­tant presenting symptoms and scoring systems (Box 13.14) are used to dene the presence of rheumatoid arthritis.
The physical examination
Examination sequence (Video 27)
Seat the patient facing you, with their arms and shoulders exposed. Start by examining the hand and ngers, then move proximally.
Look
Erythema suggests acute inammation caused by soft-tissue
infection, septic arthritis, tendon sheath infection or crystal arthritis. Palmar erythema is associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
Swelling of MCP joints due to synovitis produces loss of
interknuckle indentation on the dorsum of the hand, espe­cially when the MCP and interphalangeal joints are fully exed (loss of the normal ‘hill–valley–hill’ aspect; Fig. 13.19A). ‘Spindling’ (swelling at the joint, tapering proximally and distally; Fig. 13.19B) is seen when the PIP joints are affected.
Deformity of phalangeal fractures may produce rotation. Ask
the patient to ex the ngers together (Fig. 13.20) and then in turn. Normally, with the MCP and interphalangeal joints exed, the ngers should not cross and should point to the scaphoid tubercle in the wrist.
The ngers are long in Marfan’s syndrome (arachnodactyly,
Fig. 3.21B on p. 33).
Boutonnière (or buttonhook) deformity is a xed exion
deformity at the PIP joint with hyperextension at the DIP joint. Swan neckdeformity is hyperextension at the PIP joint with exion at the DIP joint (Fig. 13.21).
A malletnger (see Fig. 13.21)isaflexion deformity at the
DIP joints that is passively correctable. This is usually caused by minor trauma disrupting the extensor expansion at the base of the distal phalanx, with or without bony avulsion.
There may be subluxation and ulnar deviation at the MCP
joints in rheumatoid arthritis (Fig. 13.22).
Bony expansion of the DIP, PIP joints of the ngers and CMC
joint of the thumb is typical of osteoarthritis (see Fig. 13.8).
Anterior (or volar) displacement (partial dislocation) of the
wrist may be seen in rheumatoid arthritis.
13.14 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism classication criteria for rheumatoid arthritis, 2010
Criteria Score
Duration of symptoms (as reported by patient)
<6 weeks 0
>6 weeks 1
Joint distribution (0–5)
1 large joint
2–10 large joints 1
1–3 small joints
4–10 small joints (large joints not counted) 3
>10 joints (at least 1 small joint) 5
Serology (0–3)
Negative RF and negative ACPA 0
Low positive RF or low positive ACPA 2
High positive RF or high positive ACPA 3
Acute-phase reactants
Normal CRP and normal ESR 0
Abnormal CRP or abnormal ESR 1
Patients must have at least 1 swollen joint not better explained by another disease. A score of 6 classies the patient as having denite rheumatoid arthritis. A score of 4–5 is probable rheumatoid arthritis (i.e. a patient may have clinical rheumatoid arthritis but not full all criteria).
a
Large joints: shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles
b
Small joints: all metacarpophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints, thumb interphalangeal joint, wrists and 2nd–5th meta­tarsophalangeal joints.
ACPA, Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; CRP, C-reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; RF, rheumatoid factor.
Reproduced from Aletaha D, Neogi T, Silman AJ, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis classication criteria: an American College of Rheumatology/ European League Against Rheumatism collaborative initiative. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2010; 62(9): 2569–2581, with permission from John Wiley and Sons.
a
b
(large joints not counted) 2
0
Extra-articular signs
Dupuytren’s contracture affects the palmar fascia, resulting in
xed exion of the MCP and PIP joints of the little and ringngers (see Fig. 3.5).
Wasting of the interossei occurs in inflammatory arthritis and
ulnar nerve palsy. Carpal tunnel syndrome causes wasting of the thenar eminence. T1 nerve root lesions (Fig. 13.23) cause wasting of all small hand muscles.
Look for nail-fold infarcts, telangiectasia, palmar erythema,
psoriasis, scars of carpal tunnel decompression, tendon transfer or MCP joint replacement.
13
304 THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
https://t.me/medicina_free
A
B
Fig. 13.19 Swelling of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal
interphalangeal (PIP) joints.
straight on to detect any loss of the ‘hill–valley–hill’ aspect. erythema of the middle nger MCP joint and index and middle nger PIP joints. Note also small muscle wasting.
A Ask the patient to make a st. Look at it
B Swelling and
Fig. 13.21 Deformities of the ngers. Swan neck and boutonnière de-
formities occur in rheumatoid arthritis. Mallet nger occurs with trauma. DIP, Distal interphalangeal; MCP, metacarpophalangeal; PIP, proximal interphalangeal.
Scaphoid
tubercle
Fig. 13.20 Flexion of the ngers showing rotational deformity of the
ring nger.
Nail changes, such as pitting and onycholysis (separation of
the nail from its bed), occur in psoriatic arthritis (see Fig. 3.7A on p. 27).
Fig. 13.22 Advanced rheumatoid arthritis. Small muscle wasting, sub-
luxation and ulnar deviation at the metacarpophalangeal joints, boutonnière deformities at the ring and little ngers, and swelling and deformity of the wrist.
Feel
Hard swellings usually arise from bone; soft swellings suggest
synovitis.
Palpate above and below the interphalangeal joints with your
thumb and index nger to detect sponginess.
r
A
Detailed examination of the musculoskeletal system 305
https://t.me/medicina_free
AB
C
D
Fig. 13.23 T1 root lesion (cervical rib) affecting the right hand. Wasting
of the thenar eminence and interossei, and exed posture of the ngers due to lumbrical denervation.
Test the MCP joints by examining for sponginess and
squeeze gently across them for pain.
Palpate the exor tendon sheaths in the hand and ngers to
detect swelling or tenderness. Ask the patient to ex and then extend their ngers to establish whether there is triggering.
De Quervain’s tenosynovitis causes swelling, tenderness and
crepitus (a creaking sensation that may even be audible) of the tendon sheaths of abductor pollicis longus and extensor pollicis brevis. Symptoms are aggravated by movements of the wrist and thumb.
Crepitus may also occur with movement of the radiocarpal
joints in osteoarthritis, most commonly secondary to old scaphoid or distal radial fractures.
Move
E
Fig. 13.24 Testing the exors and extensors of the ngers and thumb.
A Flexor digitorum profundus. B Flexor digitorum supercialis. C Extensor
digitorum. D Flexor pollicis longus. E Extensor pollicis longus.
13
Active movements
Ask the patient to make a st and then extend their ngers
fully.
Flexor digitorum profundus: ask the patient to ex the DIP
joint while you hold the PIP joint in extension (Fig. 13.24A).
Flexor digitorum supercialis: hold the patient’s other ngers
fully extended (to eliminate the action of the exor digitorum profundus, as it can also ex the PIP joint) and ask the patient to ex the PIP joint in question (see Fig. 13.24B).
Extensor digitorum: ask the patient to extend their ngers
with the wrist in the neutral position (see Fig. 13.24C).
Flexor and extensor pollicis longus: hold the proximal phalanx
of the patients thumb rmly and ask them to ex and extend the interphalangeal joint (see Fig. 13.24D).
Extensor pollicis longus: ask the patient to place their palm on
a at surface and to extend their thumb like a hitch-hiker (see
Fig. 13.24E). Pain occurs in de Quervains disease.
Insert your index and middle nger from the thumb side into
the patients palm and ask them to squeeze them as hard as possible to test their grip.
Ask the patient to put the palms of their hands together and
extend their wrists fully in the prayer sign(normal is 90 de­grees of extension, Fig. 13.10A).
Fig. 13.25 Terms used to describe upper limb movements.
Ask the patient to put the backs of their hands together and
Check pronation and supination, exion and extension, and
Supination
B
Dorsal
Neutral
Flexion of the wrist
ex their wrists fully – the reverse prayer sign(normal is 90 degrees of exion, Fig. 13.10B).
ulnar and radial deviation (Fig. 13.25).
Palmar
Radial
Pronation
Ulna