A client works as a data entry worker for a large company. The client goes to employee health with pain in the wrist/hand. The nurse suspects that it is carpal tunnel syndrome based on which of the following assessment findings? Select all that apply

Question

A) Describes numbness/tingling in the thumb and first digit
B) States his forearm feels funny (paresthesia)
C) Loss of tendon reflexes on the affected extremity
D) Precision grip weakness in the affected hand
E) Pain interferes with sleeping

Answer 1

Ans: A, D, E
Feedback:
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a mononeuropathy with compression of the median nerve as it travels with the flexor tendons through a canal made by the carpal bones and transverse carpal ligament. The condition can be caused by a variety of conditions that produce a reduction in the capacity of the carpal tunnel or an increase in the volume of the tunnel contents. Carpal tunnel syndrome is characterized by hand and wrist pain, hand or finger paresthesia, and numbness of the thumb and first two and one half digits of the hand; atrophy of abductor pollicis muscle; pain interferes with sleep; and weakness in precision grip. Guillain-Barré syndrome is characterized by rapidly progressive limb weakness and loss of tendon reflexes.