Adson Test

Execution:

  1. Patient is in sitting position
  2. The patient’s shoulder on the affected side is brought into external rotation, slight abduction and a few degrees of extension
  3. The examiner palpates the patient’s radial pulse
  4. The patient is asked to extend the neck and to rotate towards the affected side
  5. At last, the patient is asked to breath in and hold the breath shortly

 

Positive Outcome: Reproduction of patient’s familiar symptoms or abolition of the radial pulse

Study Reliability Sn Sp LR+ LR-
Gillard et al. (2001) NA 79 76 3.29 0.28
Comment: The test is designed to stress the brachial plexus in the posterior scalene port