Transdeltoid palpation (the rent test) in the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears

The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of transdel toid palpation (the rent test) for the diagnosis of full thickness rotator cuff tear. Clinical and arthroscopic findings were documented prospectively for 109 consecutive patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy by the senior author A retrospective analysis was then performed on these data to assess the accuracy of transdeltoid palpation in the diagnosis of full thickness rotator cuff tear Transdeltoid palpation was found to have a sensitivity of 95.7% and a specificity of 96.8% for the diagnosis Of full thickness rotat or cuff tear The positive and negative predictive values for transdeltoid p alpation were 95.7% and 96.8%, respectively. Overall, the diagnostic accura cy of transdeltoid palpation was 96.3%. We conclude that transdeltoid palpa tion is highly accurate for the clinical diagnosis of full thickness rotato r cuff tear.