Spine
Wainner test cluster
- What you examine
- Cervical radiculopathy.
- Procedure
- Combine four findings: a positive Spurling test, a positive distraction test, a positive median nerve upper limb tension test, and less than 60 degrees of rotation to the affected side.
- Positive when
- Three of four present makes radiculopathy likely; all four makes it strongly likely.
- What the test is worth
- With three of four the post-test probability is about 65 per cent, with all four over 90 per cent. Individual tests do not reach that.
- Caution
- Start with the upper limb tension test: it is the most sensitive, and if negative radiculopathy is already unlikely.
- Body region
- Spine