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Apprehension test for patellar dislocation
Test is used to access for the possibility of a patellar dislocation, prior to evaluation, now spontaneously reduced.
Similar to the shoulder apprehension test
Designed to place the patella in a position of imminent subluxation or dislocation
http://mulla.pri.ee/Kelley%27s%20Textbook%20of%20Rheumatology,%208th%20ed./HTML/f4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3285-4..10042-7..gr16.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AJxcbd9g8A
Place the knee in 20 - 30 degrees of flexion with the quadripces relaxed. Grasp the patella and attempt to place lateral directed stress.
If the patella is about to dislocate, the patient will experience apprehension due to the familiar pattern of dislocation, report the laxity and resist further motion by contracting the quadriceps