Speeds Test
Other Names
- Speeds Test
- Straight Arm Test
- Speed's Test
- Gilcrest Test
- Gilcrest's Sign
- Palm up Test
Purpose
- Evaluate the cause of shoulder pain
Description
- The patient is standing or seated
- Arms are flexed forward to 90°, arms supinated
- The patient is asked to bring the arm into further flexion above 90° against examiners resistance
- The arm is then switched to pronation and the resisted flexion is repeated
- Positive test
- Pain with flexion especially in pronation suggests biceps etiology
- Vague shoulder pain may suggest SLAP tear
Pathology
Evidence
Proximal Biceps Tendon Injuries
- Bennet et al[3]
- Sensitivity: 90%
- Specificity: 14%
- LR+: 1.0
- LR-: 0.71
- Gill et al[4]
- Sensitivity: 53%
- Specificity: 54%
- PPV: 0.06
- NPV: 0.95
See Also
References
- ↑ Gill HS, El Rassi G, Bahk MS, Castillo RC, McFarland EG. Physical Examination for Partial Tears of the Biceps Tendon. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2007;35(8):1334-1340.
- ↑ Lalehzarian, Simon P., Avinesh Agarwalla, and Joseph N. Liu. "Management of proximal biceps tendon pathology." World Journal of Orthopedics 13.1 (2022): 36.
- ↑ Bennet WF. Specificity of the Speed’s Test: Arthroscopic technique for evaluating the biceps tendon at the level of the bicipital groove.Arthroscopy.1998;14:789-796.
- ↑ Gill, Harpreet S., et al. "Physical examination for partial tears of the biceps tendon." The American journal of sports medicine 35.8 (2007): 1334-1340.
Created by:
John Kiel on 11 July 2019 15:28:51
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Last edited:
30 December 2025 15:34:50
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