Carpal Tunnel vs. Pronator Teres
When a patient presents with numbness and tingling in their first 3 ½ fingers, most clinicians presume a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. Without confirming this source of median nerve compression we may be directing our treatment at the wrong culprit. Pronator Teres Syndrome describes the constellation of signs and symptoms that results from compression of the median nerve by the pronator teres muscle near the elbow. It is the second most frequent cause of median nerve compression with features similar to but discernable from its more common distal counterpart, carpal tunnel syndrome (1). Pronator Syndrome (PS) responsible for 9.2% of all cases of median nerve entrapment (2).
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