26/08/2025
A good explanation 👍🤓
✅ Trendelenburg Sign
🦵 This test assesses the stability of the hip and the ability of the hip abductors to stabilize the pelvis on the femur.
🧍 The patient is asked to stand on one leg and hold the position for 6 to 30 seconds.
⬆️ Normally the pelvis on the opposite side should rise; this finding indicates a negative test.
⬇️ If the pelvis on the opposite side (non-stance side) drops and the drop is more than 2 cm when the patient stands on the affected leg, a positive test is indicated.
👉 The test should always be performed on the normal side first so that the patient will understand what to do.
💪 If the pelvis drops on the opposite side, it indicates a weak gluteus medius or an unstable hip (e.g., as a result of hip dislocation) on the affected or stance side.
🏋️ To add difficulty to the test and to test overall stability of the hip and pelvis, the patient may be asked to do a single-leg squat and the corkscrew test, which involves rotating left and then right while doing a single-leg squat.
👀 During the squat and the corkscrew test, the examiner should watch for a positive Trendelenburg sign on the non–weight-bearing side as well as for hip, knee, and ankle movement control (i.e., alignment remains in a straight line).
⚠️ Abnormality could be stance “leg collapse” with medial hip rotation, valgus movement at the knee, and/or pronation of the foot.
✅ The normal result should be the same as that from a negative Trendelenburg test.
📝 Grimaldi et al. advocated doing a single-leg stance in which the test leg has the hip in neutral with the knee flexed to 90°.
☝️ The patient can use a finger against a wall to help balance.
⏱️ If the patient cannot hold this non–weight-bearing position for 30 seconds and there is reproduction of the patient’s pain or symptoms within the 30 seconds, the test is positive for GTPS (Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome.)
[Orthopedic Physical Assessment/Magee]