Rent Test
Other Names
- Rent Sign Test
- Rent Sign
- Transdeltoid Palpation
- Rent Test
- Rotator Cuff Rent Test
- Shoulder Rent Test
- Supraspinatus Rent Test
- Transdeltoid Palpation Test
- Rotator Cuff Palpation Test
Purpose
- Evaluate Rotator Cuff and Subacromial Bursa
Description
- Patient seated or standing with the arm relaxed
- Palpate the greater tuberosity of the humerus and the rotator cuff insertion
- Passively extend and internally rotate the patient's arm
- Position the hand behind the back or alongside the body
- This maneuver moves the greater tuberosity anteriorly, improving access to the supraspinatus tendon beneath the anterior acromion
- Palpate just lateral to the anterior edge of the acromion
- Assess for a palpable gap or soft-tissue defect ("rent") within the tendon
- Positive test
- Palpable defect or sulcus within the rotator cuff tendon
- Suggestive of a full-thickness rotator cuff tear
Alternative Description
- Palpation of a supraspinatus tear through the deltoid
- This is accomplished in a relaxed patient at the anterolateral border of the acromion
Pathology
Evidence
- Lyons et al[2], Wolfe et al[3]
- Sensitivity: 91% - 96%
- Specificity: 75% - 97%
- LR+: 3.642 - 323
- LR-: 0.043 - 0.122
- Wolf et al[4]
- Sensitivity: 96%
- Specificity: 97%
See Also
References
- ↑ Image courtesy of physiopedia.com
- ↑ Lyons AR, Tomlinson JE. Clinical diagnosis of tears of the rotator cuff. J Bone Joint Surg Br.1992; 74:414-415.
- ↑ Wolf EM, Agrawal V. Transdeltoid palpation(the rent test) in the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2001; 10: 470-473.
- ↑ Wolf, Eugene M., and Vivek Agrawal. "Transdeltoid palpation (the rent test) in the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears." Journal of shoulder and elbow surgery 10.5 (2001): 470-473.
Created by:
John Kiel on 8 August 2019 23:13:04
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Last edited:
5 July 2026 20:51:12
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