{"id":178416,"date":"2026-08-14T09:28:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T09:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pabau.com\/?p=178416"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:49:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:49:32","slug":"whipple-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pabau.com\/nl\/blog\/whipple-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Whipple test: Technique, accuracy, and interpretation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Whipple test screens for supraspinatus tears and subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS) inside a wider shoulder exam.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Position the arm at 90 degrees of forward flexion, adducted so the hand sits opposite the other shoulder, palm down.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Pain or weakness against steady downward pressure counts as positive, and weakness without pain is the more telling finding.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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A 2019 arthroscopy study of 61 patients (PMID 31691179) found 88.6% sensitivity but only 29.4% specificity, so false positives are common.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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Practice management software like Pabau stores every shoulder assessment in the client record, so findings stay comparable between visits.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n\n\n

Shoulder pain that flares on overhead reaching usually starts in the rotator cuff, and the supraspinatus tends to go first. The hard part isn’t spotting a sore shoulder, but rather telling a torn tendon from an irritated one without sending every patient for an MRI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Whipple test is one way to answer that question. It loads the supraspinatus in a position the tendon can’t dodge, so pain or weakness under pressure means something is genuinely wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost no tear gets past it, which is the good news. The catch is that plenty of healthy shoulders test positive too, so reading the result matters just as much as running the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Whipple test puts the supraspinatus on the spot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Whipple test is an orthopedic special test for supraspinatus tendon integrity and subacromial pain syndrome, or SAPS. Orthopedic surgeon Terry Whipple first described it, and the logic is straightforward. Put the arm where the supraspinatus has to carry the load alone, then press down and see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a standard shoulder screen, it sits alongside the Neer, Jobe (empty-can), full-can, and drop-arm tests, and each one loads the joint a little differently. The Whipple test combines forward flexion, adduction across the body, and internal rotation, so the supraspinatus gets almost no help from the deltoid or cuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick disambiguation<\/strong>: This guide covers the orthopedic shoulder test, not Whipple’s triad or Whipple’s disease. The comparison table further down sorts out which is which.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why a torn supraspinatus shows up as impingement pain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The supraspinatus runs from the supraspinous fossa of the scapula to the greater tuberosity of the humerus, passing under the coracoacromial arch along the way. It’s the most superior of the four rotator cuff muscles, which means it absorbs the most mechanical load during overhead work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A torn tendon then does two things that make clinical testing possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, it loses tensile strength, so resisted loading in the right position exposes weakness. Second, the damaged tissue crowds the subacromial space and catches against the acromion above it, which provokes pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n