(i) Clinical assessment of the shoulder

Clinical assessment of the shoulder involves an interview with the patient during which a history is taken relevant not only to the presenting complaint, but also to factors that might impact on treatment such as a past history of similar complaints and a review of the medical history of the patient which may impact on the management plan. This is followed by clinical examination which refines the differential diagnosis suggested by the history and is used to direct the choice of subsequent investigations. This article considers the salient components of the history and clinical examination of a patient presenting with shoulder problems. Subsequent articles in the mini-symposium will look at the imaging of shoulder problems as well as the capabilities of shoulder arthroscopy, which started as a technology to supplement available imaging modalities but now presents increasingly exciting prospects for minimally invasive treatment of many of the conditions detected by our clinical assessment.