Tenosynovitis: Two-Touch Diagnosis

Today you are the fast-track provider, and you are on the hunt for procedures. You notice a 35-year-old woman signing into triage with a chief complaint of wrist pain.   This patient looks otherwise healthy, is pushing a stroller with her right hand, and is carrying a second child on her left. What’s the emergency? There isn’t one, but it is an emergency to this patient because she cannot push that stroller another day! If she cannot push the stroller, then she cannot get the kids to day care. And, if she cannot get the kids to day care, then she cannot go to work. Ask anyone with children, it is an emergency.   This patient also says she is new in town and did not know where else to go, so she came to your Level I trauma center. Good thing you read this blog because you just made her day.   Chronic, recurrent, nontraumatic wrist pain may throw you for a loop. Words like “rheumatoid” and “fibromyalgia” flash in your mind. Things like “ANA” and “lupus” and “we don’t do that in the ED” also pop into your brain. Red flags such as “fever,” “infection,” and “diabetes” slip from your lips. Stay cool; you can totally fix this chronic wrist pain! Not only can you fix it, you can also feel confident about your diagnosis and treatment plan after reading this article. This month, we are going to touch upon — literally — tenosynovitis of the wrist. This painful chronic wrist pain can be solved with a simple two-touch technique.   Teno...
Source: The Procedural Pause - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs