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Disputed radial tunnel syndrome
Author(s) -
Rosenbaum Richard
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4598(199907)22:7<960::aid-mus26>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - radial nerve , forearm , carpal tunnel syndrome , posterior interosseous nerve , medicine , elbow , weakness , fasciculation , anatomy , median nerve , entrapment neuropathy , presentation (obstetrics) , upper limb , carpal tunnel , wrist , surgery , palsy , alternative medicine , pathology
True neurogenic radial tunnel syndrome is an uncommon condition caused by entrapment of the radial or posterior interosseous nerve in the radial tunnel and is usually easily identifiable by focal motor weakness in the distribution of the posterior interosseous nerve. Roles and Maudsley, analogizing to carpal tunnel syndrome, believed “radial tunnel syndrome” had a different presentation: proximal forearm pain and tenderness in the region of the supinator muscle. However, their patients lacked weakness or other neurologic deficit. They and subsequent surgeons have decompressed the radial nerve to treat forearm pain and tenderness, even though it is debatable whether radial nerve entrapment causes the forearm discomfort. The term “radial tunnel syndrome” is best reserved for the truly neurogenic cases. Surgical approaches to “persistent tennis elbow” should be assessed in a controlled fashion, rather than adopted on the basis of a flawed analogy to carpal tunnel syndrome. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 22: 960–967, 1999