Pain at base of thumb (53/1700)

A 23yo woman has been having pain at the base of her thumb, the pain is reproduced when
lifting her 3 month old baby or changing diapers and also with forceful abduction of the thumb
against resistance. What is the likely cause?

a. Avascular necrosis of scaphoid
b. Trigger finger.
c. De Quervain’s tenosynovitis























answers: c

Patients with de Quervain tenosynovitis note pain resulting from thumb and wrist motion, along with tenderness and thickening at the radial styloid. Crepitation or actual triggering is rarely noted. Patients frequently are mothers of infants aged 6-12 months, and symptoms are often noted in both wrists. Repetitive lifting of the baby as it grows heavier is responsible for friction tendinitis. Day care workers and other persons who repetitively lift infants are frequently affected as well. De Quervain tenosynovitis can also develop in individuals who have sustained a direct blow to the area of the first dorsal compartment.