A patient presents to your office that appears to have four joints in her arm. In addition to the wrist, elbow and shoulder, she also appears to have a mid-humeral joint. When obtaining her medical history you learn that she fractured her humerus many years ago and it has been like that ever since. Physical exam reveals motion between the proximal and distal ends of the humerus, but with some stability that seems to be a result of fibrous tissue in the same area. This is an example of:

When performing a physical exam on a patient with shoulder pain, it is important to determine whether or not there is loss of either active or passive range of motion, or both. Loss of both active and passive ROM (especially with loss of external rotation) is indicative of what diagnosis?

A patient presents with medial elbow pain that includes tingling in the ring and little finger.  There is no history of trauma and you suspect cubital tunnel syndrome. If your diagnosis is correct, what nerve is being compressed and what physical exam technique could you perform to confirm your diagnosis?

You are caring for a 55 year old male patient with COPD and hypertension. While taking his medical history, you learn that he had an unstable pelvic fracture (from high-energy trauma) over 3 years ago.  How might this history affect your current care?

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that can occur in the spine as well as other joints. When it occurs in the spine it may be referred to as spondylosis, which can then progress to spinal stenosis.  What radiographic findings can indicate the nonspecific degenerative diagnosis of spondylosis?

Which of the following findings may indicate irreversible soft-tissue damage as a result of delayed treatment of acute compartment syndrome?

You are working in the emergency department when a report comes in that an ambulance will be arriving soon with a trauma patient.  It is a 21 year old male that incurred a head-on motor vehicle accident.  His main injury appears to be an injury to his right leg and hip.  He is described as having abrasions on the right leg, but no open fractures.  He refuses to move his right knee or hip and holds his hip in a position of flexion, adduction, and internal rotation. From this description, what is the most likely injury?

Which of the following accurately defines spinal stenosis of the lumbar spine?

A 52 year old farmer presents with right shoulder pain for over one year.  He says that it has gradually gotten worse and now it is difficult to sleep as the pain is worse at night.  On physical exam you notice muscle atrophy of the supraspinatous and the infraspinatous.  The active range of motion of his right arm is limited at 90 degrees and he fails to raise his arm over his head.  With passive range of motion however, his arm can smoothly be raised above his head.  When the patient holds his arm forward at 30 degrees abduction (thumb down) and you apply downward pressure, he is unable to resist and his arm drops.  Now with his arm at his side but his elbow bent and forearm forward he externally rotates his arm against your resistance, again this is painful and weakness is noted.  At this point in the exam, what is the most likely diagnosis?

The physical exam technique that requires a patient to hold both hands above their head with shoulders abducted at least 90 degrees and then open and close their fists at a moderate speed for 3 minutes in an effort to reproduce neurologic symptoms is evaluating for ______________________________.