Thumb digital neuropathy caused by splinting.
Healthcare professionals are currently faced with a great variety of splints and splinting materials. Choices range from prefabricated products to custom splints made on-site from plaster, orthoplast, or fiberglass. In addition to providing immobilization to maintain a particular posture, a splint must protect important soft tissues. Patients with hand or wrist injuries often receive a prefabricated metal cock-up wrist splint in emergency departments. Complications from splints are not uncommon but are infrequently reported. We report a case in which a metal wrist cock-up splint caused compression of the thumb ulnar digital nerve. Preventive measures for such complication are included.
Kagel
E M
EM
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, USA.
Rayan
G M
GM
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013165:Splints / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013933:Thumb / Q000294:innervation*; D017769:Ulnar Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000209:etiology*