Quad Strain Assessment
Assessment of any injury should include questions concerning the patients general health, previous injuries and current injury. The aim of these questions is to determine what may be causing the pain and what treatment is appropriate.
The therapist will then perform a physical assessment of the injury to try to determine the source of the pain.
Observation and palpation
- The therapist will have a close look at the injured area, observing for swelling and bruising in particular. They should also observe the patient in standing and walking, looking for postural abnormalities.
- The therapist will also feel the area for muscle tension, pain and in severe cases, discontinuation of the muscle (a gap where the muscle should be).
Range of motion
- Testing the range of motion available at both the hip and knee joints is useful to the therapist as it will provide information about the tightness of the muscles in question, and also if stretching the muscle causes pain.
- If there is pain on both knee flexion and hip extension then it is likely that the rectus femoris is the injured muscle.
Resisted muscle tests
- The therapist should perform tests in which the patient tries to move the leg against resistance. This should be done into both knee extension and hip flexion.
- If both are painful or weaker than the other side than this suggests that rectus femoris is injured.
