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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffWhen you grip, grasp, clench, pinch or wring anything in your hand, you use two major tendons in your wrist and lower thumb. These tendons run side by side from your forearm through the thumb side of your wrist. They normally glide unhampered through the small tunnel that connects them to the base of the thumb. In de Quervain's tenosynovitis, the tendons' slippery covering becomes inflamed, restricting movement of the tendons.
Chronic overuse of your wrist is commonly associated with de Quervain's tenosynovitis. For example, wringing out a cloth involves a repetitive motion, a bent wrist and the gripping of the cloth. If you repeat an action like this day after day, this combination may be enough to irritate the sheath around the two 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
- De Quervain's tendinitis (De Quervain's tendinosis). American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00007. Accessed Feb. 18, 2010.
- Sheon RP, et al. de Quervain's tenosynovitis.http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 18, 2010.
- Brady M. de Quervain's tenosynovitis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2010. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/183172249-3/951902956/2088/183.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05609-0..00013-7--sc0045_3682. Accessed Feb. 18, 2010.
- Ingari JV. Wrist and hand. In. DeLee JC, et al. DeLee and Drez's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/183172249-3/951902956/2079/38.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3143-7..00020-8--s0350_2856. Accessed Feb. 18, 2010.
- Wright PE. Stenosing tenosynovitis. In: Canale ST, et al. Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/183172249-5/951919611/1584/566.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-03329-9..50076-3--cesec17_4013. Accessed Feb. 18, 2010.
- Anderson BC. Evaluation of the patient with thumb pain. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 18, 2010.
- Amadio PC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 23, 2010.
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