Not your average Saturday night palsy-High resolution nerve ultrasound resolves rare cause of wrist drop

Bianka Heiling; Albrecht Waschke; Mihai Ceanga; Alexander Grimm; Otto W Witte; Hubertus Axer

doi:10.1016/j.clineuro.2018.07.006

Not your average Saturday night palsy-High resolution nerve ultrasound resolves rare cause of wrist drop

Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2018 Sep:172:160-161. doi: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2018.07.006. Epub 2018 Jul 9.

Authors

Bianka Heiling¹, Albrecht Waschke², Mihai Ceanga¹, Alexander Grimm³, Otto W Witte¹, Hubertus Axer⁴

Affiliations

¹ Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Jena University Hospital, Germany.
³ Center for Neurology, Tübingen University Hospital, Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
⁴ Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 30015054
DOI: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2018.07.006

Abstract

We present a case of a patient with acute wrist drop caused by radial nerve torsion. NCS showed axonal lesion of the radial nerve. High-resolution ultrasound was able to visualize a constriction of the radial nerve. Nerve torsion is a rare differential diagnosis to Saturday night palsy. The patient was subjected to early surgical intervention and showed a favorable outcome in follow-up. Thus, high-resolution ultrasound may subject these patients early to surgical therapy.

Keywords: Constriction; High-Resolution ultrasound; Hourglass-Like appearance; Radial nerve torsion; Wrist drop.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Constriction, Pathologic / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Middle Aged
Nerve Compression Syndromes / diagnostic imaging
Nerve Compression Syndromes / etiology
Radial Nerve / diagnostic imaging*
Radial Neuropathy / diagnostic imaging*
Radial Neuropathy / etiology*
Ultrasonography* / methods