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Retired NBME 15 Answers

nbme15/Block 1/Question#27 (reveal difficulty score)
A 55-year-old woman comes to the physician because
Supraspinatus ๐Ÿ” / ๐Ÿ“บ / ๐ŸŒณ / ๐Ÿ“–
tags: anatomy repeat

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submitted by โˆ—pakimd(31)
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empty can test isolates the supraspinatus tendon impingement between the acromion and humeral head and finds weakness of the supraspinatus muscle. it is performed by asking the pt. to abduct the arm in the scapular plane at 90 degrees with the arm extended with the the thumb point downwards and asked to abduct the shoulder against resistance. this will reproduced pain and indicate a positive empty can test and indicate supraspinatus tendinopathy

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djeffs1  I just love "Abduction of the shoulder when the shoulder is abducted..." +2
pakimd  was just trying to say that the pt. is asked to resist the downward pressure applied by the examiner which will only occur when the pt. is asked to abduct/keep his arm elevated against resistance. no need to be nasty. we are all trying to help each other here. +2
pakimd  you can just ask the pt. to resist downward pressure but too many times in clinical practice ive notced pts. getting confused so you specifically have to instruct them not to put their arm down when pressure is applied. that is why my answer (unintentionally) was phrased the way it was. +
djeffs1  @pakimd I got the question right, and i wasn't criticizing you. just pointing out a funny literary chiasmus in the actual question stem +3
melanoma  also full can test assesses for supraspinatus pathology +



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