During which test is the patient's arm raised to 90 degrees of flexion while assessing for pain?

The Hawkins-Kennedy test is specifically designed to assess for shoulder impingement, particularly involving the supraspinatus tendon. In this test, the patient's arm is indeed positioned at 90 degrees of flexion, and the examiner then internally rotates the arm by pushing downward on the forearm. This action compresses the rotator cuff tendons against the coracoacromial ligament, which can reproduce symptoms of shoulder pain if there is an underlying impingement.

The significance of this test lies in its ability to elicit pain during the maneuver, indicating compromised space in the shoulder joint and potential inflamed or injured structures, such as the supraspinatus tendon. This makes it a fundamental component of shoulder assessments in clinical practice.

The other tests listed do not involve raising the arm to 90 degrees of flexion specifically for diagnosing shoulder impingement. Each of them serves different purposes in shoulder evaluation, but only the Hawkins-Kennedy test is characterized by this specific arm positioning and associated assessment for pain.