Upper Extremity Assessment: Elbow to Hand

Presented by Mike Szekeres

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This course will review the common clinical assessments used to investigate upper extremity pain and dysfunction. Assessments of instability, stiffness, and provocative testing will be covered from the elbow to hand.

Meet your instructor

Mike Szekeres

Mike Szekeres, PhD, OT Reg (Ont.), CHT, is in private practice at Hand Therapy Canada in London, Ontario, Canada. He is an Assistant Editor for the Journal of Hand Therapy. He is currently a sessional faculty member at Western University and has recently completed his PhD in the field of Physical Therapy within the Department…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Client History & Outcome Measures

1. Client History & Outcome Measures

This chapter will cover the important aspects of getting the information needed to proceed with physical assessment. Relevant details around the injury, current course of treatment, and other vital aspects of the initial interview will be reviewed. Patient reported outcome measures commonly used for the upper extremity will also be reviewed.

Range of Motion

2. Range of Motion

This chapter will cover the basics of some of the most important impairment based measures used by therapists. Range of motion will be reviewed, along with the norms for several joints, and the proper technique for producing reliable measurement technique.

Grip & Pinch Strength

3. Grip & Pinch Strength

This chapter will cover the basics of some of the most important impairment based measures used by therapists. Grip strength and pinch strength measurements will be reviewed, along with the norms for several joints, and the proper technique for producing reliable measurement technique.

Volume & Sensibility

4. Volume & Sensibility

This chapter will discuss common ways to measure volume of the upper extremity and sensibility of the hand. These measures are important to be able to document levels of impairment and to detect change over time.

Pain: Provocative Testing

5. Pain: Provocative Testing

Unfortunately, when a client has pain, the best way to figure out what is wrong is to reproduce their pain with clinical tests. This “provoking” of pain gives us the term “Provocative Testing.” This chapter will cover several important provocative tests used for determining the source of pain at the elbow, wrist, and hand.