Lower Limb Exam Order Flashcards
1
Q
What are the 9 steps for the lower limb exam?
A
- Introduction
- Position and exposure
- General inspection
- Tone
- Power
- Reflexes
- Sensation
- Co-ordination
- End
2
Q
What do you do in the introduction?
A
- Checks patients name and states role
- Obtains consent for examination
- Washes hands
3
Q
What do you do in position and exposure?
A
- Appropriate exposure
2. Checks if any pain in limbs
4
Q
What do you do in general inspection?
A
- Inspection from the end of the bed looking for (mentions at least 2)
- Offers to assess gait including heel-toe walk
- Romberg’s test
5
Q
What are you looking for at end of bed?
A
- muscle wasting
- fasciculations
- neurofibromas
- scars
6
Q
What do you do in tone?
A
- Checks overall tone of legs
2. Checks for clonus in the ankle
7
Q
What do you do in power?
A
- Assess Power of hip (flexion and extension +/- abduction & adduction)
- Assess Power of knee (flexion and extension)
- Assess Power of ankle dorsiflexion plantar flexion
- Assess Power of big toe (flexion and extension)
8
Q
What do you do in reflexes?
A
- knee
- ankle reflexes (+/- reinforcement)
- plantar reflexes
9
Q
What do you do in sensation?
A
- Assesses Light Touch with Cotton Wool
- Correctly identifies dermatome distributions
- Assess Pain Sensation with Neuro-Tip (uses both sharp and blunt ends)
- Safely disposes of Neuro-tip
- Assess Vibration with appropriate Tuning Fork (128Hz)
- Uses sternum as reference point and compares like for like for all sensory assessments
- Assess Proprioception
10
Q
What do you do in coordination?
A
Assesses Co-ordination with heel-to-shin test
11
Q
What should you do at the end of the exam?
A
- Thanks patient, helps cover up
- Washes hands
- Documents appropriately
- Appropriate summary of findings
- Able to identify pathology
