Acute carpal tunnel syndrome caused by fracture of the scaphoid and the 5th metacarpal bones

Abstract

A case of acute carpal tunnel syndrome in a 19-year-old girl is described. She sustained undisplaced fractures of the right scaphoid and 5th metacarpal bones during a motorcycle collision with a deer. The carpal tunnel syndrome developed within 3 hours of the accident and the diagnosis was easily established since she developed intense pain in her wrist, together with paraesthesiae in the distribution of the median nerve. The carpal tunnel was decompressed within 1 hour of the onset of the symptoms, revealing a fracture haematoma under pressure. The pain disappeared immediately and the sensation was next to normal within 12 hours and completely normal within 3 weeks.