In brachial plexus traction testing, which statement is correct?

• A. Tension stretching causes radiating pain on the opposite side of the lateral bending.
• B. Compression causes radiating pain on the side toward the lateral bending.
• C. Both produce pain on the same side.
• D. No radiating pain is produced by traction.

Answer: (A)

In brachial plexus traction testing, applying a longitudinal stretch to the upper limb nerves will reproduce symptoms if neural tissue is irritated. When the neck is laterally flexed to one side while the arm is gently pulled to create traction, the brachial plexus on the opposite side is lengthened the most. If there is nerve irritation, this increased tensile load tends to produce radiating pain down the arm opposite the side of the lateral bend. This contralateral radiation with traction reflects neural tension rather than local tissue compression. By contrast, compression tests tend to reproduce symptoms on the same side as the bend due to local root crowding. Therefore, seeing radiating pain on the opposite side during traction aligns with the expected pattern of neural tension.