Menell Test | 3-Phase Test | Quick Back / SIJ / Hip Assessment

The 3-Phases Test of Menell is a quick way to determine from which joint your patient’s pain is coming.

Hip Joint

To perform this test, have your patient in prone position.
First, we are going to test the hip joint. Therefore, fixate the pelvis on the tuber ischiadicum in ventrocaudal direction, and grab your patient’s ipsilateral leg from the inside to create internal rotation, which is the hips closed-pack position, and bring it into extension.
Theoretically, it is easier to create internal rotation if you grab onto the contralateral leg, however, this test was described with the leg on the ipsilateral side.

This test is positive if your patient is complaining about familiar pain.

Sacroiliac Joint

In order to test the SI joint, fixate the sacrum below its pivoting point at S2 in ventrocaudal direction and extend your patient’s leg again. This test is positive for the SI joint if your patient is complaining about familiar pain.

Lumbar Spine

At last, we want to examine if your patient’s pain is coming from the lumbar spine. Therefore, look for vertebrae T12, fixate it into ventrocaudal direction with a pinch grip, and extend your patient’s leg. You are basically performing passive extension and rotation to the left at the whole lumbar spine. Again, this test is positive for pain coming from the lumbar spine, if your patient complains about familiar pain.

21 OF THE MOST USEFUL ORTHOPAEDIC TESTS IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

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If you want to perform orthopedic tests that are more specific for each region, you might want to check out the following tests:

• Cluster of Laslett (SIJ Provocation Testing)
• Cluster of van der Wurff (SIJ Provocation Testing)
• FADDIR Test (Hip Joint)

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