Login
Home › Online Course Categories › Orthopedics › Trunk & Upper Extremity Entrapment Syndromes
Orthopedics 202 — at a Glance
| Course: | Trunk & Upper Extremity Entrapment Syndromes · 2 PACE-approved CE hours |
| Faculty: | John Riggs III, MBA, DC, DIANM · Orthopedics Faculty, CCEDseminars |
| Format: | On-demand online video with assessment · downloadable handouts · instant certificate |
| Pricing: | $20/hr · automatic 10% off at 6–9 hrs, 20% off at 10+ hrs in one order · no promo codes |
| Approval: | PACE Provider #34015544 · co-sponsored by Texas Chiropractic College · acceptance varies by state |
Board-approved · PACE Provider #34015544 · CE Broker auto-reporting for states served · Instant certificate
Neck-and-arm symptoms that do not follow a nerve root, shoulder weakness with a winging scapula, rib pain with no injury — the trunk and shoulder girdle harbor nerve entrapments that are missed far more often than they are found. Orthopedics 202 is the second course in Dr. Riggs’ entrapment series: thoracic outlet syndrome, suprascapular nerve entrapment, long thoracic nerve dysfunction with serratus anterior weakness, and the intercostal nerve syndromes of the rib cage.
Dr. John Riggs III works each entrapment the same way — anatomy, clinical presentation, orthopedic testing, conservative management — with thoracic outlet syndrome classified and examined in depth, suprascapular entrapment at the notch, long thoracic nerve palsy read from the scapula, and intercostal syndromes separated from visceral and spinal causes. Postural correction and rehabilitation strategies close the course, so the chiropractor has a conservative plan before surgical referral is even considered.
Choose Your Orthopedics Path — Three Lanes, One Curriculum
The Orthopedics library — twenty-six courses by five CCEDseminars faculty: John Riggs III, MBA, DC, DIANM; Steven Yeomans, DC, FACO; Michael Hall, DC, FIACN; Dennis O’Hara, DC, DACBSP; and Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN — organizes into three working lanes: trace the nerve, evaluate the joint, and catch the presentations that change management. Orthopedics 201–224 together form the 48-hour Clinical Chiropractic Orthopedics Certification (CCO). Two hours each.
1 · Gut, Microbiome, Digestion and Detoxification
Dr. Riggs’ designed three-course sequence — the entrapment map from the shoulder girdle to the tarsal tunnel: median, ulnar and radial nerve entrapments of the upper limb, the thoracic outlet and scapular syndromes, piriformis, meralgia paresthetica, peroneal and tarsal tunnel — plus the athlete’s stinger. You are here: Orthopedics 202.
201: Upper Extremity Entrapment Syndromes
202: Trunk & Upper Extremity Entrapment Syndromes
203: Nerve Entrapments of the Pelvis and Lower Extremities
221: Burner Syndrome
2 · Brain, Mood, Stress and the Nervous System
Regional evaluation and management down the kinetic chain — the joints your schedule is made of: the rotator cuff and the frozen shoulder, the neck-and-shoulder file, the hip, plica syndrome at the knee, the foot and ankle, Achilles tendinitis, the chronically unstable ankle, and the stress fracture that hides as focal pain.
204: Rotator Cuff Syndrome
206: Frozen Shoulder Evaluation
212: The Neck & Shoulder
215: Orthopedic Conditions of the Foot and Ankle
216: Plica Syndrome
217: Achilles Tendinitis
218: The Floppy Ankle
219: The Hip
225: Stress Fractures
3 · Musculoskeletal, Immune, Hormonal and Clinical Conditions
Stability testing, functional assessment and the presentations that demand recognition — cervical instability and position sense, cauda equina, dropped head syndrome, cervicovagopathy, gait and the lumbar spine, the Romberg sign and flexibility benchmarks — plus the chronic pain, inflammation and breathing science underneath.
205: Cervical Spine Instability: The How-To
207: Finger to Floor & Sit-n-Reach
208: Managing Chronic Pain
209: The Romberg Sign
210: Inflammatory Properties of Contained and Non-Contained Disc Disease
211: Cervical Position Sense Testing
213: Coronal Plane Movement & Neuroplasticity
214: Cauda Equina & Lumbar Radiculopathy
220: Cervicovagopathy
222: Dropped Head Syndrome
223: Chronic Inflammation and Close Relationships
224: Breathe — Mouth Breathing and Health
226: Gait & the Lumbar Spine
Every course in the series is 2 PACE-approved CE hours at $40, and the automatic bundle discounts apply across the whole lane. The full 26-course catalog continues on the Orthopedics category page.
What You’ll Learn in Orthopedics 202
Identify common sites of nerve entrapment in the trunk, shoulder and thoracic outlet.
Apply orthopedic examination procedures for the diagnosis of thoracic outlet and scapular nerve syndromes.
Develop evidence-based conservative management strategies for trunk and shoulder entrapments.
Implement posture correction and patient education protocols for long-term management.
Your Orthopedics Faculty
John H. Riggs III, MBA, DC, DIANM — instructor of this course. Board-certified Diplomate of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine, former Chair of the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners Enforcement Committee and postgraduate faculty at Texas Chiropractic College, with more than 20 peer-reviewed publications in JMPT and JACO. He authors the three-course nerve entrapment series (Orthopedics 201–203), the systematic backbone of the CCEDseminars Orthopedics library — here, the thoracic outlet, suprascapular, long thoracic and intercostal entrapments that hide behind neck, shoulder and rib pain, and the examination that finds them.
Full bio and the complete instructor roster: CCEDseminars faculty page.
Where Orthopedics CE Hours Count — State Rules Worth Knowing
Orthopedics coursework is clinical subject matter — examination, diagnosis and case management — which is exactly what several state boards ask for. In Iowa, these hours serve the 36-hour clinical case-management minimum; in Rhode Island, they address the 50-of-60 clinical requirement; and in Vermont — where practice-building coursework earns nothing — patient-care education like this counts fully under the clinical-focus rule.
Online-format allowances still vary by state — some accept every hour online, others cap distance learning or require in-person blocks. Check your state’s guide in the full state directory before building your renewal plan.
Build Your Orthopedics Block — or Take the Credential
Every course in the Orthopedics series runs 2 hours at $40, so the automatic discounts do the bundling for you: 6–9 hours in one order earns 10% off, and 10 or more earns 20% off — any ten courses from the series is 20 hours, which clears the 20% tier at roughly $320 instead of $400, with no promo codes. Trunk & Upper Extremity Entrapment Syndromes pairs naturally with Orthopedics 201 on the upper limb and Orthopedics 203 on the pelvis and lower extremity — Dr. Riggs’ three-course entrapment series reaches 6 hours and the 10% tier. Pursuing the credential? The Clinical Chiropractic Orthopedics Certification (CCO) packages Orthopedics 201–224 — 48 hours — in a single $960 checkout. Browse Orthopedics Courses
Orthopedics 202 — Frequently Asked Questions
What does Orthopedics 202 cover?
Orthopedics 202 covers trunk and shoulder-girdle nerve entrapment syndromes for chiropractors: thoracic outlet syndrome — anatomy, classification, diagnosis and conservative management — suprascapular nerve entrapment, long thoracic nerve entrapment with serratus anterior dysfunction and scapular winging, intercostal nerve entrapments and rib cage syndromes, and postural correction and rehabilitation. Also known as the thoracic outlet syndrome course, the scapular winging course, or the shoulder girdle nerve entrapment course.
How is thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosed in the course?
By classification first — neurogenic, venous and arterial forms present differently — then by a structured examination that combines history, provocative orthopedic testing and neurological findings, with the limits of each test made explicit. Dr. Riggs then lays out the conservative management that addresses the postural and muscular contributors rather than the symptom alone.
Why does my shoulder blade stick out, and can a chiropractor help?
Scapular winging is the classic sign of long thoracic nerve dysfunction: the serratus anterior can no longer hold the scapula to the rib cage. The course covers how to recognize it, distinguish it from other causes of scapular dyskinesis, and manage it conservatively with rehabilitation, postural correction and patient education while monitoring for recovery.
How is this different from Orthopedics 201 and 203?
Orthopedics 201 covers the upper limb — median, ulnar and radial nerve entrapments below the elbow. Orthopedics 202 is the proximal course: the thoracic outlet, the shoulder girdle and the rib cage. Orthopedics 203 completes the series in the pelvis and lower extremity. Many clinicians take 201 and 202 together for the complete upper-quarter entrapment picture.
How many CE hours is it, and where does it sit in the Orthopedics series?
It is 2 PACE-approved CE hours. Orthopedics 202 sits in the nerve entrapment lane of the Orthopedics series with Dr. John Riggs III, alongside Orthopedics 201 (Upper Extremity Entrapment Syndromes), 203 (Nerve Entrapments of the Pelvis and Lower Extremities) and 221 (Burner Syndrome).
State Approval and Licensing Reminder
Continuing education requirements — including online-hour caps and clinical-hour minimums — vary by jurisdiction. Review the online chiropractic CE guidelines page and contact CCEDseminars with questions about your specific licensing requirements before registering.
Ready to Enroll in Orthopedics 202?
The entrapments of the trunk and shoulder girdle are the ones that get missed. Two hours here give you the thoracic outlet, suprascapular, long thoracic and intercostal map and the examination and conservative plan to catch them.
CCEDseminars · PACE Provider #34015544 · Reviewed by Monte Horne, DC · Last updated September 2026 (CT)