Upper extremity peripheral nerve entrapments among wheelchair athletes: prevalence, location, and risk factors

Wheelchair athletes commonly experience hand pain and numbness. This investigation studied the prevalence, location, and risk factors of upper extremity peripheral nerve entrapment among wheelchair athletes. Clinical and electrodiagnostic assessments were performed on both upper extremities of 28 wheelchair athletes and 30 able-bodied controls. Included in the assessment were short-segment stimulation techniques of the median nerve across the carpal tunnel and the ulnar nerve across the elbow. By clinical criteria, the prevalence of nerve entrapment among the wheelchair athletes was 23%, whereas it was 64% electrodiagnostically. The most common electrodiagnostic dysfunction was of the median nerve at the carpal tunnel (46%), and the portion of the nerve within the proximal carpal tunnel was most frequently affected. Ulnar neuropathy was the second most common entrapment electrodiagnostically (39%) and occurred at the wrist and forearm segments. Disability duration correlated significantly with electrophysiologic median nerve dysfunction.