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Clinical Examination of the Ulnar-Sided Painful Wrist

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Book cover Arthroscopic Management of Ulnar Pain

Abstract

Ulnar-sided wrist pain is a challenging clinical condition, difficult to manage. It may result from intracapsular injury or from pathology outside the capsule. Arthroscopy may help solving the first, but it has little to offer to assess most extracapsular problems. To facilitate making a diagnosis, a thorough clinical examination is recommended. In fact, the better the clinical examination, the narrower the list of potential diagnoses will be. Obviously, this will imply ordering less imaging techniques to confirm the diagnosis, and the entire diagnostic process will be cheaper. Wrist examination consists of palpation, measurement of motion and grip strength, passive joint mobilization, and provocative tests. This chapter will provide a step-by-step description of the tests and maneuvers that may be used to identify the source of the patient’s complaints.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery, Institut Kaplan, Paseo de la Bonanova, 9, 2° 2ª, 08022, Barcelona, Spain

    Marc Garcia-Elias M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Marc Garcia-Elias M.D., Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Marc Garcia-Elias M.D., Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Calderón de la Barca 16-entlo., Santander, 39002, Spain

    Francisco del Piñal

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Garcia-Elias, M. (2012). Clinical Examination of the Ulnar-Sided Painful Wrist. In: del Piñal, F. (eds) Arthroscopic Management of Ulnar Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30544-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30544-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30543-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30544-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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