Elbow special tests are most useful when chosen to confirm or refute a hypothesis from the history - lateral pain with gripping points to the common extensor origin, medial pain with throwing or repetitive flexion points to the flexor-pronator group or the ulnar nerve. This guide groups the tests that change management, with how to perform each one and how to interpret a positive or negative result.
Provocation tests for the common extensor origin - most useful when they reproduce the patient's familiar lateral elbow pain.
Cozen's test (resisted wrist extension) is the most useful provocation test for lateral epicondylalgia, ideally combined with Mill's test and local palpation. Reproduction of the patient's familiar lateral elbow pain supports the diagnosis.
Tap over the ulnar nerve behind the medial epicondyle (Tinel's sign) and add an elbow-flexion compression test. Tingling into the ring and little fingers suggests cubital tunnel syndrome; a positive Tinel's is fairly specific but not sensitive.
Most have only modest accuracy in isolation. Diagnostic value rises when tests are clustered for a single hypothesis and interpreted alongside the history, grip-related symptoms, and palpation.