Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for De Quervain Tenosynovitis Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Nov 16, 2022
  • Author: Patrick M Foye, MD; Chief Editor: Stephen Kishner, MD, MHA  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

See the list below:

  • Dorsal ganglion at the wrist

  • Osteoarthritis at the first CMC joint

  • Kienböck disease (ie, osteonecrosis of the lunate)

  • Degenerative arthritis at the radioscaphoid joint

  • Cervical radiculopathy, particularly at the C5 or C6 nerve root

  • Carpal tunnel syndrome (ie, median nerve compression within the wrist [23] )

  • Cheiralgia paresthetica: This is a neuropathy of the radial sensory nerve (ie, the superficial radial nerve) at the wrist; it is also known as Wartenberg syndrome

  • Scaphoid fracture: This is characterized by tenderness at the floor of the anatomical snuffbox.

  • Intersection syndrome: This is a form of tenosynovitis in which the tendons of the first dorsal compartment (ie, extensor pollicis brevis, abductor pollicis longus) cross over the tendons of the second dorsal compartment (ie, extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor carpi radialis brevis). The condition is characterized by pain and swelling in the distal dorsoradial forearm. The pain associated with intersection syndrome is less lateral than that of de Quervain tenosynovitis and may be associated with swelling. [24]