What is the physical exam finding associated with radial nerve damage?

If damaged at the axilla, there will be a loss of extension of the forearm, hand, and fingers. Thus, this usually presents with a wrist drop on physical examination. There will be a sensory loss in the lateral arm.

What happens when radial nerve is damaged?

A radial nerve injury usually causes symptoms in the back of your hand, near your thumb, and in your index and middle fingers. Symptoms may include a sharp or burning pain, as well as unusual sensations in your thumb and fingers. It's common to experience numbness, tingling, and trouble straightening your arm.

How do I know if I have radial nerve damage?

Weakness, loss of coordination of the fingers. Problem straightening the arm at the elbow. Problem bending the hand back at the wrist, or holding the hand. Pain, numbness, decreased sensation, tingling, or burning sensation in the areas controlled by the nerve.

Where do you palpate the radial nerve?

How can you tell if you have nerve damage in your hand?

The doctor places a small needle electrode into muscles in your hand and arm that get impulses from the median nerve. The needle sends electric impulses into the muscle. You relax and flex your hand several times. The doctor can tell if your median nerve is damaged or being squeezed.

Radial Nerve Injury, Locations - Everything You Need To Know - Dr. Nabil Ebraheim

What does radial nerve palsy look like?

Pain, weakness, and loss of function are the most common symptoms of radial nerve palsy. Typically, the affected arm will have decreased sensation along the posterior/dorsal aspect of the arm, forearm and hand, and weakness of the muscles that perform extension of the wrist and fingers.

What muscles are affected by radial nerve palsy?

All the muscles innervated by the radial nerve can be tested for strength and function, including the triceps, forearm supinator, and wrist and finger extensors. For the upper lesions of radial nerve, loss of elbow extension should be evaluated with gravity eliminated.

What movement can be performed to test the motor function of the radial nerve?

The following tests can quickly assess the radial nerve and its motor and sensory functions: Motor function: Thumb extension against resistance. Sensory function: Two-point discrimination on the dorsum of the thumb.

What nerve causes wrist flexion?

Wrist drop is caused by damage to the radial nerve, which travels down the arm and controls the movement of the triceps muscle at the back of the upper arm, because of several conditions. This nerve controls the backward bend of wrists and helps with the movement and sensation of the wrist and fingers.

What is Honeymoon palsy?

Saturday night palsy classically involves an individual falling asleep with the arm hanging over a chair or other hard surface, leading to compression within the axilla. Honeymoon palsy, on the other hand, refers to an individual falling asleep on the arm of another and consequently compressing that person's nerve.

How do you test for an axillary nerve injury?

An X-ray of your shoulder can show broken bones or damage to the tissues around your axillary nerve. Magnetic resonance imaging. Also called an MRI, this imaging scan can help show damage to the nerve and surrounding soft tissues.

What would happen to a person's ability to use his her arm if the radial nerve were damaged?

Since the radial nerve helps to stimulate extensor muscles, extension will be hard for the person. They will most likely have difficulty straightening out their wrist or fingers or moving their thumb.

Is radial nerve sensory or motor?

The radial nerve provides motor (movement) and sensory functions to the arm. It: Stimulates muscles so you can straighten and raise your elbows, wrists, hands and fingers. Provides touch, pain and temperature sensations to portions of the back of the upper arm, forearm, and to the back of the hand and fingers.

How do you examine a wrist drop?

When testing for wrist-drop deformity, the patient should be asked to hold the affected arm out with the forearm parallel to the floor. The back of the hand should be facing the ceiling and the fingers should be pointed downwards.

What is ape hand?

Ape hand is a physical deformity in humans causing an inability to abduct or oppose the thumb thereby causing the thumb little or no abduction and opposition. Abduction of the thumb is the ability to move the perpendicular (90°) away from the plane of the palm.

What is Wartenberg syndrome?

What is Wartenberg's syndrome? It is an entrapment neuropathy of the superficial radial nerve (SRN), which is a pure sensory nerve. Also known as "cheiralgia paraesthetica". Due to compression by the relative motion of brachioradialis and extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL) during forearm rotation.

How can you tell if you have nerve damage in your wrist?

The primary symptom of nerve damage in the hand is loss of sensation, which means that heat, cold, and pain are not felt in the hand as they would be in the rest of the body, which can lead to severe injuries such as burns. Nerve damage can also cause intense sensation and pain, know as neuralgia.

How do you test for nerve damage?

A nerve conduction velocity (NCV) test — also called a nerve conduction study (NCS) — measures how fast an electrical impulse moves through your nerve. NCV can identify nerve damage. During the test, your nerve is stimulated, usually with electrode patches attached to your skin.

How do you detect nerve damage?

Where is the radial pulse generally best palpated?

Your radial pulse can be taken on either wrist. Use the tip of the index and third fingers of your other hand to feel the pulse in your radial artery between your wrist bone and the tendon on the thumb side of your wrist. Apply just enough pressure so you can feel each beat.

Where is the radial artery generally best palpated?

The radial artery is quite superficial. It is easily palpated proximal to the wrist crease immediately lateral to the tendon of the flexor carpi radialis muscle.

Are nerves palpable?

Multiple peripheral nerves were palpable, including ulnar and fibular nerves, in addition to visibly enlarged great auricular (figure, C) and superficial radial nerves (figure, D). (A) Diffusely infiltrated and erythematous skin.