Dr. Ebraheim’s educational animated video describes the condition of cubital tunnel syndrome and ulnar nerve entrapment , where the ulnar nerve can become pinched in different locations and due to different reasons, such as: thorasic outlet syndrome, Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome(guyon canal).
Causes of ulnar nerve entrapement around the cubital tunnel: Arcade of Struthers, Medial intermuscular septum, Osborne’s Fascia, Cubitus Valgus: a deformity in which the elbow is turned outward, entrapement can also occur due to a spur on the medial epicondyle.
The symptoms of this condition are worsened by preforming activities that require bending the elbow.
Keeping the elbow extended, especially during the night will often relieve the pressure on the ulnar nerve.
Symptoms: the patient will describe symptoms of pain and numbness in the elbow as well as tingling in the ring and little figure.
More severe Symptoms include:
– Weak or clumsy hand.
– Weakness affecting the ring and little fingers.
– Muscle wasting.
– Claw hand deformity if compression below the elbow.
Differential Diagnosis:
– Pain could be due to injury of the cervical spine C8 nerve root.
– Thorasic outlet syndrome: entrapment area between the rib cage and collar bone.
– Pancost tumor: apical lung tumor.
Clinical examination should include:
– Check for Tinnel’s Sign
– Elbow flexion test
– Check for Frement’s sign
Treatment:
– Conservative: NSAIDs, night spling, elbow pad, therapy, injection.
– Surgery: release the nerve with or without transposition.
This condition carry bad prognosis if there is intrinsic muscle atrophy.
Complication of surgery is injury to the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve.
Neurolysis is not helpful.
Tag: medical
Myofascial Pain Syndrome and Trigger Points Treatments, Animation.
This animation and many other pain management related videos/images (in HD) are available for instant download licensing here: https://www.alilamedicalmedia.com/-/galleries/images-videos-by-medical-specialties/pain-management-images-and-videos
Voice by Khoi Dao http://www.khoidaovoice.com/
©Alila Medical Media. All rights reserved.
Perfect for patient education.
All images/videos by Alila Medical Media are for information purposes ONLY and are NOT intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Myofascial pain syndrome is a common chronic pain disorder that can affect various parts of the body. Myofascial pain syndrome is characterized by presence of hyperirritable spots located in skeletal muscle called trigger points. A trigger point can be felt as a band or a nodule of muscle with harder than normal consistency. Palpation of trigger points may elicit pain in a different area of the body. This is called referred pain. Referred pain makes diagnosis difficult as the pain mimics symptoms of more well-known common conditions. For example, trigger point related pain in the head and neck region may manifest as tension headache, temporomandibular joint pain, eye pain, or tinnitus.
Symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome include regional, persistent pain, commonly associated with limited range of motion of the affected muscle. The pain is most frequently found in the head, neck, shoulders, extremities, and lower back.
Trigger points are developed as a result of muscle injury. This can be acute trauma caused by sport injury, accident, or chronic muscle overuse brought by repetitive occupational activities, emotional stress or poor posture. A trigger point is composed of many contraction knots where individual muscle fibers contract and cannot relax. These fibers make the muscle shorter and constitute a taut band — a group of tense muscle fibers extending from the trigger point to muscle attachment. The sustained contraction of muscle sarcomeres compresses local blood supply, resulting in energy shortage of the area. This metabolic crisis activates pain receptors, generating a regional pain pattern that follows a specific nerve passage. The pain patterns are therefore consistent and are well documented for various muscles.
Treatment of myofascial pain syndrome aims to release trigger points and return the affected muscle to original length and strength. Common treatment options include:
– Manual therapy, such as massage, involves application of certain amount of pressure to release trigger points. The outcome of manual therapy strongly depends on the skill level of the therapist.
– The Spray and Stretch technique makes use of a vapor coolant to quickly decrease skin temperature while passively stretching the target muscle. A sudden drop in skin temperature provides a pain relief effect, allowing the muscle to fully stretch, and thus releasing the trigger points.
– Trigger point injections with saline, local anesthetics or steroids are well accepted as effective treatments for myofascial trigger points.
– Dry needling — insertion of a needle without injecting any solution – is reported to be as effective as injections.