MSK Assessment Principles Flashcards
What is the purpose of a musculoskeletal assessment? What is the difference between a symptom and a sign?
- Understand the patient’s problem
- Design a treatment program
Symptom: what the patient complains of
Ex: pain tingling, crepitus, numbness
Sign: what the therapist sees and feels (observable, measurable findings)
Ex: warmth, swelling, …
What are some questions for the social history, subjective part of an assessment?
- Age (e.g., Osgoode-Schlatter’s disease)
- Occupation
- Type of work?
- Hours of work?
- E.g., part-time, full-time, casual, shift work
- How long has the patient done this particular job?
• Language, gender, activity history (current and past), culture
- Psychological Factors
- Hand dominance
- Personality characteristics (e.g., motivation, comprehension)
• Living arrangements (e.g., stairs, transportation, housing)
- Family and friend support
- Culture
- Work/School environment
- Team/coach/trainer environment
What are some questions to ask for the history of the present illness (HPI)?
- When did the problem start?
- How long has the patient had the problem?
- What was the mechanism of injury (MOI)?
- What happened? How did it start?
- Slow versus traumatic onset
During the initial subjective assessment, how can you map out the site of the injury?
- Map out the exact area and boundaries of the pain
- Get the patient to point to the area “Where exactly are your symptoms?”
- When several painful areas exist, identify the top painful areas to manage first
Describe the four components of a subjective assessment: radiation, nature, periodicity, and duration of the pain.
Radiation
- Is the pain localized or does it spread?
- Does the pain follow a dermatomal or segmental reference nature of pain
• Extra-segmental pain (dura – red flag)
Nature
- Worse in the morning but gets better as the day goes on
- E.g., fluid in the disc with ongoing weight-bearing positions
Periodicity
• Constant or intermittent (even if the intermittent is only 5 minutes long)
Duration of the Pain
• How long does the pain last?
How can you assess the intensity of the pain during the subjective assessment?
- Using a 0-10 pain index or a visual analog scale
- Anobjective, subjective index
What are some characteristics that describe pain’s “quality”
Burning
Sharp
Boring
Shooting
Dull
Aching
What are aggravating activities? When should we include these? Give examples.
What are some easing activities? Give examples.
Aggravating Activities
Movements that increase symptoms
Include these movements toward the end of the assessment E.g., positions, activities, time of day
Easing Activities
Movements that improve symptoms
What activity or position makes the patient feel better? E.g., medications (anti-inflammatories), modalities
What do we have to consider regarding the activities of daily living (ADL) of the patient?
• How long has this problem affected your:
- Everyday activities?
- Occupation?
- Recreational activities?
• Is there anything that is difficult or impossible for your to do now since the onset of this problem?
Helps create patient centric goals and what the patient would want to accomplish
What does morning pain vs morning stiffness indicate?
• Morning pain
Ligamentous injury
Inflammatory disease (E.g., rheumatoid arthritis – chemical build up
overnight)
- Morning stiffness
- Degenerative joint disease (E.g., osteoarthritis)
- Lose lubrication while sleeping – can reduce stiffness with hot shower• Could be inflammatory if lasting longer than 1 hour
What is there to consider regarding night pain? What would be concerning?
• Do their symptoms ever keep the patient awake? If yes, how frequently?
- Does the pain ever awaken the patient? If yes, how frequently?
- What does the patient do to relieve symptoms?
- Can the patient lie on the affected side?
Night pain that is not relieved by anything is concerning!
What are the two possible causes of night pain and their characteristics? Which one is a red flag for PTs?
Chemical Causes
- A “RED FLAG” for the physiotherapy
- Neither movement nor change in position will affect the pain• Comes on roughly the same time each night
- The patient will often “walk the floor”
- Possible cause could be cancer
Refer back to family physician for further tests, if absolutely nothing makes it feel better
Mechanical Causes
• Improves with a change in position or with movement
What is there to consider while taking the previous medical history (PMHx)?
• Has the problem occurred before (i.e., first occurrence or reoccurrence)?
- Was pervious treatment effective?
- What was the outcome?
- Any residual findings?
• Was the patient satisfied with the results?
What do you ask regarding previous surgeries?
- Where?
- When?
- Surgeon?
• What was the outcome? – depends on who you ask *caution*
- Surgeon versus patient satisfaction
- E.g., return to sport in youth athlete
What questions can you ask regarding general health?
- What treatments have been tried?
- A&E visit, family physician, trainer,
- medication, massage therapist, osteopath,
- chiropractor, another PT
- What was the result?
THREADS
What do you consider regarding radiographs.
When
Where
Outcomes (don’t assume that no news is good news)
Other imaging or diagnostic investigations?
E.g., MRI, CT scan, bone scan, bone density, blood
work, EMG
• Can be requested with the patient’s consent
Which aspects are helpful to know regarding patient’s current medication? Which one would be a yellow flag?
For current condition and/or other conditions
- Type, dosage and length of time on a medication
- Purpose for taking medication
- Response, compliance and side effects of medication
- Known allergies to medication
- Insurance coverage
- Anti-coagulants? (e.g., Warfarin, Cumafin) – YELLOW FLAG
- High risk of bleeding
- Important implications for treatment (e.g., rigor)
- Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can also lead to high fracture risk
- When did they last take their medication (e.g., 10 min versus 8 hours)
- Need to be able to reproduce symptoms to assess
What are the possible long-term effects of corticosteroid use?
Debate on detrimental long-term effects of corticosteroid use
- Osteoporosis proximal muscle weakness
- Generalized weakness
- Generalized tissue swelling
- Thin, fragile skin (no deep tissue treatment)
- Increased pain threshold
- Precaution when using manual techniques
- High fracture risk
- Limited modality use
How are red flags important? What are some global system questions?
To identify any serious underlying pathology
E.g. cancer, vascular compromise, neurological signs, infections, fractures
Global System Questions:
• Any unexplained alteration in energy level?
• Does the pain consistently wake you from your sleep?
- Have you experienced night sweats?
- Any unexplained weight loss?
Give some red flag examples.
Severe, constant unremitting pain, night pain or spasm
No history of injury, unaffected by medication or position
Spinal Cord symptoms: paraesthesia or numbness in 2 or 4 limbs
Vertebral Artery symptoms: dizziness, difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), double vision (diplopia), difficulty articulating words (dysarthria), drop attack (fall to floor but no loss of consciousness), nausea, nystagmus (Difficulty keeping your eyes in one direction) (Know all our Five Ds)
Cauda Equina symptoms: numbness in the saddle area, loss of sexual function
Bowel/Bladder dysfunction: loss of bowel control
It’s always a matter of ruling out, instead of ruling in
What are some possible red flag sources?
Cancer
Heart
Upper motor neuron disorder Joint infection
Other infection
Vertebral artery compromise Internal carotid artery issue Fracture
Upper cervical spine instability
Other than red, what are some other types of flags? What do they represent?
YELLOW FLAGS
Psychological/behavioral factors
BLUE FLAGS
Social and economic factors
BLACK FLAGS
Occupational factor
After your subjective history, you should be able to:
After your subjective history, you should be able to:
[1] Describe a clinical hypothesis/hypotheses
[2] Determine if appropriate and safe to continue
[3] Determine the SIN factors
What are the some steps to objective examination?
- Observation
- Muscle length/strength tests
- A/P ROM (with overpressure)
- Functional Tests
- Special Tests
- Palpations
- Myotomes
- Dermatomes
- Reflexes
- Motor Neuron Reflexes
- Neurodynamic Tests
- Pulses
During observation, start by checking the alignment of the body. Why is the alignment important?
• Always look first at the overall picture then narrow your focus
ALIGNMENT (includes posture)
As with any other mechanical system, alignment is important
Ideal alignment facilitates optimal movement
If alignment is ideal, there is less chance of causing microtrauma to the joint and its supporting structures
What are the key aspects to a good postural scan?
- Complete in standing, sitting, and supine (modify for age/condition as needed)
- Consider anterior, posterior and both lateral perspectives
- Despite asymmetry, we need to be convinced that it is related to the presenting symptoms
Give some of the most important aspects to check for during observation.
POSTURE
BRUISING
SWELLING
SOFT TISSUE CONTOURS
SKIN CONDITION
BONY CONTOURS
PATIENT BEHAVIOURS
Name some functional movements that you can ask your patient to do during observation.
- Functional movements combining elements of the objective exam
- E.g., ROM, strength, balance
- Quick gait assessment
- Walk on heels and toes
- Squat
- Twist
• One leg standing
- Shoulder shrug
- Hand behind back
• Hand behind head
Why is functional assessment testing? What are three aspects to consider, that could possibly be affected by the injury?
• To determine how injury is affecting the patient’s ADLs
Daily self-care activities:
• E.g., grooming, walking, eating, dressing
Recreational activities:
• E.g., driving, gardening, meal preparation, laundry
Patient specific/injury specific tests:
• E.g., running, squatting, hand dexterity, transfers, throwing
What aspects are you looking at during a GAIT assessment?
Balance
Stride length
Coordination
Limp
Rhythm
Assistive devices
Distribution of weight
What are the main principles of examination? What do you start with? After that?
• Tell the patient what you are doing and test the unaffected side first
- AROM→PROM→resisted isometric movements (most painful are last)
- For PROM and ligament testing, the quality of movement and quality of end-feel are important
- Apply overpressure (OP) with care to test the end-feel
- Repeated movements or sustained postures and positions
- Resisted isometric movements (resting position→resist on stretch)
What are active range of motion movements (AROM)? What are they used for (2)? What can they tell you (3)?
- Movements under the patient’s volitional control
- Can be normal, limited or excessive
- Painful active movements implicate both contractile and inert structures
- Used to determine:
- Patient’s willingness to move
- Available joint ROM (quality and quantity of movement)
• How gentle or vigorous the subsequent objective examination should be
- If the patient has the muscle power to perform the movement
- The region where symptoms are located and which tissue to test in detail
- When in AROM does pain occur and where is the pain?
- Does the movement make the pain better, worse, or the same?• The pattern of movement and quality of movement
- Amount of restriction
- Movement of associated joints
- Willingness of patient to move
What is the goal of passive range of motion (PROM)? What are the two different types? Gives examples
- Tests inert structures and places passive tension on the antagonist contractile unit
- Findings: reproduction or alteration of pain or other symptoms, ROM and pattern of limitation, end-feel
Types
• Passive physiological movements (PPM)
- Movements that occur normally at the joint
- Performed under volitional control or performed passively
- ex: flexion (PPF), extension (PPE), abduction (PPABD)
- Passive accessory movements (PAM)
ex: posterior-anterior (PA), anterior-posterior (AP), longitudinal movements
What are the two types of passive range of motion movements?
OSTEOKINEMATICS
• Rotary movement of the bony lever in space during physiological joint motion
ARTHROKINEMATICS
• One segment is relatively stable and the other segment moves on that stable base
What are passive accessory movements? What are the three types of joint mobility? What are some abnormal types of end-feels?
- Movement not under volitional control
- Necessary (with physiological movements) to function
• “Joint Play Movement” = passive accessory movements
- Joint mobility: normal, hypomobile, hypermobile
- The amount or free play of a given joint (neutral zone)
• End-feel: painful, resistance, spasm (and the relationship between them)
What are some aspects to look for in PROM testing?
- When in PROM does pain occur and where is the pain?
- Does the movement make the pain better, worse, or the same?
- The pattern of movement and quality of the end-feel
- Amount of restriction
- Movement of associated joints
Name some of the different types of endfeel and an example for each.
ENDFEEL EXAMPLE
Normal: bone to bone Elbow extension
Soft tissue approximation Elbow flexion
Tissue stretch Ankle dorsiflexion
Abnormal: early muscle spasm Protective spasm following injury
Late muscle spasm Spasm due to instability
Hard capsular Frozen shoulder
Soft capsular Synovitis, edema, ligament laxity
Bone to bone Osteophyte formation
Empty Acute bursitis
Springy block Meniscus tear
LAG describes what type of phenomenon? What are some possible causes for that?
PROM > AROM
Possible causes of muscle weakness:
- Muscle strain
- Pain/reflex inhibition
- Peripheral nerve injury
- Nerve root lesion
- Tendon pathology
- Avulsion
- Psychological Factors
What does resisted ROM test? What can it help find? There are two ways to find that ROM…?
- Tests contractile structures by active tension
- Findings: pattern of pain and weakness
Test in neutral – the muscle position to generate maximum force
Test the muscle in its stretched position –to maximize tension through contractile tissues (e.g., muscle belly, tendon, tendon- periosteal junction)
Elements to look for in resisted ROM.
- Does the contraction cause pain. If so, how much, where?
- How strong is the contraction?
- What type (isometric, concentric, eccentric) of contraction caused the pain?
• Did the contraction start strong but with sustained maximal effort (5-6 seconds), did the contraction become weak (fatigable weakness = neurological = nerve palsy)
What do these resisted ROM test findings indicate?
- Strong and pain free in all positions = ?
- Relatively strong but some pain = ?
- Weak and painful = ?
- Weak and painless = ?
- Strong and pain free in all positions = normal
- Relatively strong but some pain = mild strain of contractile structure
- Weak and painful = moderate to severe strain of contractile structure
- Weak and painless = complete tear or rupture of the contractile structure
What are some examples of abnormal sensations?
- Crepitus
- Clicking
- Snapping
- Grating
- Creaking
- Popping
What can special joint tests indicate?
- Specific tests of a joint or particular structure
- Suggestive of a particular problem involving those structures (not conclusive)
Reflexes: a loss or abnormal conduction will lead to (3)?
• A loss or abnormal of conduction will lead to:
- Hyporeflexia: A reduced deep tendon reflex (DTR)
- Areflexia: A loss or absence of DTR
• Hyperreflexia: An increased DTR
What information can palpation give you?
- Discriminate differences in tissue tension
- Muscle tone, spasticity, flaccidity (know what every tissue feels like)
- Discriminate difference in tissue texture
- Identify shape, structures, tissue type, thickness – normal versus abnormal
Other than feeling tissues, palpation can be helpful to determine (3)…
- Pulses
- Local temperature
• Swelling
