Anterior Interosseous Nerve Syndrome

Description

Anterior interosseus nerve syndrome is a nerve disorder in the elbow and upper arm that causes pain and weakness in the hand. It involves compression of a branch of the median nerve in the forearm by muscles or ligament-like tissues. It may decrease athletic performance in sports that require pinching of the thumb and index finger. This nerve does not supply the skin; thus no numbness is associated with it.

Frequent signs and symptoms

• Pain in the upper forearm, usually vague

• Inability to pinch the thumb to the index finger tip to tip (the “okay” sign)

• Thumb weakness, particularly bending the thumb, and/or weakness of the index finger

• Frequent dropping of objects and difficulty writing

• Weakness turning the palm down against resistance

Causes

• Pressure on the anterior interosseous nerve at the forearm—caused by swollen, inflamed, scarred, or ligament-like tissue—or between muscles of the forearm

• A virus causing inflammation and dysfunction of the nerve

Factors that increase risk

• Sports or occupations that require repetitive and strenuous forearm and wrist movements (rowing, weight lifting, body building, tennis, squash, racquetball, carpentry), particularly rotation of the wrist and hand

• Poor physical conditioning (strength, flexibility)

• Inadequate warm-up before practice or play

• Diabetes mellitus

< div class='tao-gold-member'>

Only gold members can continue reading. Log In or Register to continue

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Related posts:

Blood Doping/Erythropoietin Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye) Eye Foreign Body Effort Thrombosis Proximal Tibiofibular Joint Dislocation Subtalar Dislocation

Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel

Join

Full access? Get Clinical Tree