Carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to splinter injury: a case report

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a mononeuropathy arising as a result of compression of the median nerve as it travels through the carpal tunnel at the level of the wrist. The symptoms of this disabling condition include pain or paresthesia in the palmar aspect of the radial 3 and half digits of the hand. This is the case of a 30-year-old man who sustained a penetrating injury to his left wrist following a fall from a height. He presented with pain in his hand and a chronic discharging sinus from a puncture wound on the volar aspect of his left wrist. Wound debridement, extraction of the foreign body and a course of parenteral antibiotics led to resolution of his symptoms.