Neuropatías por Atrapamiento / Entrapment neuropathies

ABSTRACT

Nerve entrapment and compression produce a pathology known as mononeuropathy, which consists in the isolated affectation of a peripheral nerve due to mechanical forces that act on themselves for a prolonged period. Neuropathies by entrapment affect diverse nerves along its path. The most frequent points of entrapment are – in the upper limbs – the path along the carpal tunnel for the median nerve, and the cubital channel at the level of the elbow for the cubital nerve. Diagnosis of these pathologies is based fundamentally on clinical and electrodiagnostic studies. Each one of the phases of the nerve entrapment lesion has its classification in the neurophysiological study, starting with a focal slowing of conduction (due to focal demyelinization), followed by a blocked nerve conduction and temporal dispersion through the compression site and, in later stages, the electromyography shows signs of denervation of the distal muscles (axonal damage).