De Quervain's tenosynovitis

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Causes

By Mayo Clinic staff

Chronic overuse of your wrist is commonly associated with de Quervain's tenosynovitis.

When you grip, grasp, clench, pinch or wring anything in your hand, you use two major tendons in your wrist and lower thumb. These tendons normally glide unhampered through the small tunnel that connects them to the base of the thumb. If you repeat a particular motion day after day, it may irritate the sheath around the two tendons, causing thickening that restricts the movement of the tendons.

Other causes of de Quervain's tenosynovitis include:

  • Direct injury to your wrist or tendon; scar tissue can restrict movement of the tendons
  • Inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis
Risk factors Symptoms
References
  1. De Quervain's tendinitis (De Quervain's tendinosis). American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00007. Accessed June 13, 2012.
  2. South-Paul JE, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment in Family Medicine. 3rd ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2011. http://www.accessmedicine.com/resourceTOC.aspx?resourceID=52. Accessed June 13, 2012.
  3. Sheon RP, et al. de Quervain's tenosynovitis. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed June 13, 2012.
  4. Bray J, et al. Evaluation of the patient with thumb pain. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed June 13, 2012.
  5. Suttle AL, et al. Disc jockey tenosynovitis. The American Journal of Medicine. 2011; 124:e1.
  6. Peters-Veluthamaningal C, et al. Corticosteroid injection for de Quervain's tenosynovitis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005616.pub2/abstract. June 13, 2012.
  7. Amadio PC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 30, 2012.
DS00692 Aug. 1, 2012

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