Is pronator teres reflex valuable for the diagnosis of C6 & C7 radiculopathy?

Background: Neck roots lesion is one of the reasons for cervical and arm pain. A detailed patient evaluation could improve diagnose, reduce imaging requests, and speedy treatment of cervical pain. We tried to estimate the utility of pronator teres reflex in C6 and C7 roots irritation. Methods: Present study is composed of 118 participants including 56 with C6 and C7 lesion and 62 normal controls. Utility and usefulness of this reflex in C6 and C7 root lesion was compared to positive electromyography, and imaging with magnetic resonance. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for pronator teres reflex were found to be 36.4%, 13.6%, 64.8%, and 4.6%, respectively. Conclusions: This reflex can be considered as additional reflex during the physical examination for C6 and C7 nerve roots injury, but its diagnostic value for C6 & C7 radiculopathy is not reliable enough to be used as a screening factor.