Clinical Tests for Plantar Plate Tears This video descibes four tests that can be used in the clinical setting to help diagnose plantar plate tears. All four of these tests can easily be performed by the clinician in about 1-2 minutes during the examination of the patient. These four clinical tests give the clinician a very good indication of whether a plantar plate tear is present and how severe the plantar plate tear may be. The Dorsal Drawer Test, first described by Thompson and Hamilton in 1