Citation Nr: 18146063
Decision Date: 10/30/18	Archive Date: 10/30/18

DOCKET NO. 18-08 945
DATE:	October 30, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for left hip limitation of flexion is remanded.
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for left hip limitation of extension is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1994 to July 1995.
These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2017 rating decision.
The Board finds that a contemporaneous examination is necessary to ascertain the current severity of the Veteran’s left hip limitations.  The Veteran was last afforded a VA examination in December 2016. Since that time, the Veteran underwent left hip surgery in February 2017.  In her May 2017 Notice of Disagreement, the Veteran stated that her left hip symptomology was worse than reflected in the rating and had increased after her recent surgery.  Therefore, based on the foregoing, the Board finds that a more contemporaneous examination of the Veteran’s left hip is warranted.  See Green v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 121, 124 (1991) (VA has a duty to provide the Veteran with a thorough and contemporaneous medical examination) and Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377, 381 (1994) (an examination too remote for rating purposes cannot be considered “contemporaneous”).
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and severity of her service-connected left hip limitations of flexion and extension.  The claims file must be made available to the examiner for review in connection with the examination, and it should be confirmed that such records were available for review.  All necessary tests and studies should be accomplished, and complaints and clinical manifestations should be reported in detail.  The examination report must include a complete rationale for all opinions expressed. 
The examiner is reminded that the full range of motion testing should be performed. The left hip must be tested in: active motion; passive motion; weightbearing; and non-weightbearing. 
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2. The examiner should address in detail the additional functional impairment and range of motion loss due to factors such as pain, weakened movement, excess fatigability, incoordination, and flare-ups. Based on the Veteran’s lay statements and the other evidence of record, the examiner should provide an opinion estimating any additional degrees of limited motion caused by functional loss during a flare-up or after repeated use over time.
 
LESLEY A. REIN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Parrish, Associate Counsel