Nursing mothers' wrist - stenosing tenovaginitis of De Quervain - abstract

ABSTRACT

Fifty-two patients treated for painful wrists during a seven-year period at a referral clinic were studied. Forty-seven were women, and of these, twenty-seven were nursing mothers. This presentation shows the results of an investigation into some of the factors in the aetiology of this condition. Handling of the baby, especially those of higher birth weight, may be a contributing factor in the production of the disease. Conservative treatment by injection of local anaesthetic and hydrocortisone mixture into the tendon sheath is successful in early cases. Late cases benefit from operative relief of the stenosis (AU)