Intersection Syndrome Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Oct 06, 2022
  • Author: David R Steinberg, MD; Chief Editor: Harris Gellman, MD  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

De Quervain tenosynovitis often affects mothers of infants, and often involves both wrists. In contrast, intersection syndrome more often affects men and involves the dominant hand. Intersection syndrome tends to occur at a younger age than de Quervain tenosynovitis, except in peripartum women, and patients with intersection syndrome tend to present with a much shorter duration of symptoms. [14]

Radial sensory neuritis (Wartenberg syndrome) may also present as distal radial forearm pain. It is associated with numbness distal to the radial styloid along the dorsal thumb, index finger, and first web space, and often with a positive Tinel sign with percussion over the nerve.

Differential Diagnoses