Abstract

A simple method to assess hip flexibility in the presence of a fixed flexion knee deformity

Author(s): Alun Yewlett, Gareth Roberts, James Brown, Andy Weaver

Thomas’s test was originally described by Hugh Thomas more than a century ago, but it still remains in widespread clinical use today. It is an examination technique that allows the examiner to detect a fixed flexion deformity of the hip by having the patient lying flat on a bed. The fact that it is still used today more than one hundred years on from its inception is a tribute to its reliability and usefulness. However, there are some pitfalls to trap the unwary which we aim to highlight together with our preferred method of overcoming them.