Hand Surgery

Tendovaginitis de Quervain, Homemaker´s Thumb I

Cause / Development

This disease develops as a result of a combination of too much stress on certain parts of the body, carpal tunnel irritation and individual predisposition. It affects women far more frequently than men. The carpal tunnel area on the thumb side wrist swells. This makes the first stretch tendon section through which two thumb tendons are running relatively tight. The result is pain and an irritation of the tendon gliding tissue, which amplifies the problem.

Symptoms

Pain on the thumb end of the wrist whenever any load is placed upon it or the thumb is stretched outward is a typical symptom. In rare cases a springing phenomenon may also be present. The wrist is swollen at the thumb end and very pressure sensitive.

Treatment

Conservative: In the early stages of the illness, a small amount of cortisone may be injected into the area around the thickened tendon along with a local anesthetic, which causes the swelling of the tendon to go down. This eliminates the symptoms (see above). However, the therapeutic success of cortisone injections is usually only temporary. Once the tendon tissue swells up again the problem reoccurs.

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