Wrist Drop after opeartions

[ravi_sethi2k]

Hi There,

My wife has a wrist drop after getting operated for intercondylar fracture of elbow.

however her fingers are moving. a bit with some of numbness,
but there is numbness and pain in palm area.

I just wanted to understand can that be called as nerve injury or pull because the nervs are making finger movement but not the wrist movement.

what can be done diagnose. although we are planning to have nerve conduction test in 2 days.

Similar Threads:

• Forearm Tendon Pain when wrist moves. wrist grinding and popping.
• Foot Drop
• 4 months post intra-articular distal radius fracture - wrist extension causes dorsal wrist pain - is this normal?
• Limited wrist extension following wrist fracture (radius)
• trick movements in wrist drop ?

[Canuck Physio]

Although the wrist drop is present you mention that there is movement in the digits. What is the prognosis of the surgeon?

Additionally, post surgical recovery needs to be monitored closely by a physiotherapist, what is the therapists current assessment?

[ravi_sethi2k]

Surgeon says for Nerve conduction test

and physio is trying stimulation response happens but in rarely not always

[Canuck Physio]

Surgeon says for Nerve conduction test

and physio is trying stimulation response happens but in rarely not always

Hello again,

Research into neuroplasticity indicates that early and aggressive treatment is necessary. This requires the physiotherapist to begin to facilitate movement of the hand.

It is important to understand that the nervous system is quite adaptable. After the surgeon consult the physiotherapist should have an understanding of the short term prognosis at least of the neural conductive pathways to the hand. Additionally the physio should attempt to do sensory and motor assessment of the whole arm. The physiotherapist should attempt to induce active movement in the shoulder, arm (biceps and triceps), as well as the forearm. It is important to complete training of the upper arm concomitantly with the hand. This further induces greater motor output to the arm and hand.

Additionally, I would be inclined to suggest meditative mind-body exercises concentrating on the hand. Recent SPECT scans on meditation have shown increased blood flow and neural input to the brain by meditators who use a mudra during meditation. A mudra being such that the thumb and fingers are touched during deep relaxation breathing. Further research is being undertaken in this area currently, so I unfortunately do not have links to the study as it is currently underway.

I believe that all of these aspects should be considered during treatment. However, at this point (how many days post surgery is it?) you should wait for the surgeon to provide their opinion first, and perhaps an xray is necessary to confirm positive bone healing that is not impinging on the nerve?

Do continue to update.