Pronator syndrome
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Synopsis
Pronator syndrome, also referred to as pronator teres syndrome (PTS), is a neuropathy caused by compression of the median nerve as it passes through the 2 heads of the pronator teres muscle in the proximal forearm. Distally, median nerve entrapment at the wrist is called carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).PTS is usually caused by repetitive physical activity involving quick pronation and grasping movements:
- Manual labor – mechanics, chopping wood, carpentry
- Physical activity – weight lifting, playing racquet sports, throwing balls, rowing, skiing, holding the handlebars of a bicycle
- Activities of daily living – carrying books, pouring drinks, cleaning dishes, raking leaves, shoveling snow
- Trauma
- Compressive tumors
- Hypertrophy of bicipital aponeurosis
Because it can be mistaken for more common conditions such as CTS, the incidence of pronator syndrome is rare, occurring in less than 1 in 100 000 people annually.
Impingement of the median nerve can occur at several locations in pronator syndrome: elbow joint (most common cause), distal humerus, proximal elbow, proximal forearm, or due to the Gantzer muscle (accessory head of the flexor pollicis longus muscle).
Codes
ICD10CM:G56.10 – Other lesions of median nerve, unspecified upper limb
SNOMEDCT:
230628008 – Pronator syndrome
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Differential Diagnosis & Pitfalls
Other median nerve entrapment syndromes:- CTS
- Anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) compressive neuropathy
- Pronator teres strain
- Brachial plexus injury
- Cervical radiculopathy
- Thoracic outlet syndrome
- Neuralgia amyotrophy (Parsonage-Turner syndrome)
PTS differs from CTS in:
- PTS lacks nocturnal paresthesias, unlike CTS.
- PTS involves sensory deficits of the palm and thenar eminence (palmar cutaneous nerve distribution), which is usually spared in CTS.
- While both CTS and PTS symptoms are exacerbated with wrist flexion, PTS is also exacerbated with pronation and supination of the forearm.
- PTS has positive Tinel sign at the proximal forearm but not at the wrist, as in CTS.
PTS differs from brachial plexus injury and cervical radiculopathy in that these conditions often cause weakness to structures not innervated by the median nerve. They also involve neck pain radiating into the arm.
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Last Reviewed:02/20/2023
Last Updated:03/27/2023
Last Updated:03/27/2023