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Case report| Volume 65, ISSUE 4, e99-e101, April 2012

Ulnar subluxation of the median nerve following carpal tunnel release: A case report

  • B. L’Heureux-Lebeau
    Affiliations
    Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Montréal Hospital Center, University of Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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  • A. Odobescu
    Affiliations
    Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Montréal Hospital Center, University of Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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  • T. Moser
    Affiliations
    Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Montréal Hospital Center, University of Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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  • P.G. Harris
    Affiliations
    Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Montréal Hospital Center, University of Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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  • M.A. Danino
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author. Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery University of Montréal, University of Montréal Hospital Center/Notre Dame Hospital, 1560 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montreal, Qc H2L 4M1, Canada. Tel.: +1 514 890 8000x23757; fax: +1 514 465 1773.
    Affiliations
    Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Montréal Hospital Center, University of Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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Published:January 09, 2012DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjps.2011.11.052

      Summary

      Complications of carpal tunnel release, while infrequent, include incomplete release resulting in persistent symptoms or recurrence due to postoperative scarring, as well as iatrogenic damage to nerves and vessels. We present the case of a patient who underwent carpal tunnel release with resolution of symptoms in the immediate postoperative period. At one and a half years post release he started to experience numbness and tingling in a median nerve distribution triggered by repetitive ulnar to radial deviation of the wrist, with no symptoms at rest. Dynamic ultrasound showed a subluxation of the median nerve from one side of the palmaris longus tendon to the other. The patient’s symptoms were triggered as the median nerve squeezed in between the palmaris longus and flexor digitorum superficialis tendons.

      Keywords

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