Title:de Quervain’s Tenosynovitis with Accessory Abductor Pollicis Longus
Tendon and ‘Wartenberg’s syndrome’ - A Case Report
Volume: 19
Issue: 2
Author(s): Md Abu Bakar Siddiq*
Affiliation:
- Department of Physical Medicine & Rheumatology, Brahmanbaria Medical College, Brahmanbaria, Bangladesh
- School of Health Sport and Professional Practice, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, United Kingdom
Keywords:
de Quervains’s tenosynovitis, accessory abductor pollicis longus tendon, Wartenberg’s syndrome, ultrasonography, case report, rheumatism.
Abstract:
Background: de Quervain's tenosynovitis (dQT) is focal soft-tissue rheumatism of abductor
pollicis longus (APL) and extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) tendons. The Swiss surgeon Fritz
de Quervain first demonstrated the disorder in 1895. Anatomical variation of the first wrist extensor
compartment, for example, accessory APL, can be associated with de Quervain's tenosynovitis.
Sometimes, dQT may coexist with superficial radial nerve (SRN) compression, widely known as
'Wartenberg’s syndrome'.
Case Presentation: In the present case study, clinical features of de Quervain's tenosynovitis have
been described in a 45-year-old housewife without any known risk factor for the disorder. The patient
complained of pain and swelling on the radial aspect of dorsal wrist; there was local tenderness,
and the Finkelstein test was positive. An ultrasonogram of the wrist's first extensor compartment
depicted a thick, hypoechoic tenosynovial sheath encircling two APL and one EPB tendon.
Swollen first extensor wrist compartment compressing the SRN led to tingling and dysesthesia,
'Wartenberg’s syndrome.'
Conclusion: de Quervain's tenosynovitis with accessory abductor pollicis longus tendon may present
with ‘Wartenberg’s syndrome’.
