Surgery | Common Surgical Conditions | Trauma and Orthopaedics: Common Peripheral Neuropathies

Trauma and Orthopaedics: Common Peripheral Neuropathies
Session Overview
Description
This session will cover common upper limb peripheral neuropathies.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Recognise and diagnose common nerve compression syndromes of the upper limb
• Identify the common sites of compression for the nerves of the upper limb
• Organise a management plan for treatment of common peripheral neuropathies

Prerequisites
Before commencing this session you should have:

• A basic understanding of anatomy of the upper limb
• An understanding of the nerve supply to the upper limb

Nerve compression syndromes of the upper limb are very common. It is important to know how each presents, as the most successful treatment of nerve decompression depends on identifying not only the correct nerve but the correct branch of the nerve involved. The site of compression can vary and there are various clinical tests which can aid the diagnosis, these will be discussed later in this session. Peripheral nerve entrapments of the lower limb are outside the scope of this session.

Each nerve of the upper limb can present as different neuropathies. We will be discussing the most common presentations. The most common compressive neuropathies of the upper extremity are carpal tunnel syndrome and cubital tunnel syndrome. We will discuss both of these in detail in this session.

It is important to understand the basic structure of a nerve before starting this session.