Decreased ability to pinch the thumb and little finger.Weakness affecting the ring and little fingers.More severe symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome include: Tingling, especially in the ring and little fingers.Baseball pitchers, for example, have an increased risk of cubital tunnel syndrome, because the twisting motion required to throw a slider can damage delicate ligaments in the elbow.Įarly symptoms of cubital tunnel syndrome include: Sometimes, cubital tunnel syndrome results from abnormal bone growth in the elbow or from intense physical activity that increases pressure on the ulnar nerve. Bend your elbow for sustained periods, such as while talking on a cell phone or sleeping with your hand crooked under your pillow.Repeatedly lean on your elbow, especially on a hard surface.Cubital Tunnel Syndrome: Causes and SymptomsĬubital tunnel syndrome - also known as ulnar neuropathy - is caused by increased pressure on the ulnar nerve, which passes close to the skin's surface in the area of the elbow commonly known as the "funny bone." You're more likely to develop cubital tunnel syndrome if you: But more severe cases may require surgery to reduce pressure on the affected nerve. In most cases, cubital tunnel syndrome and radial tunnel syndrome can be managed with conservative treatments. The common cause of all these nerve compression syndromes is increased pressure - usually from bone or connective tissue - on a nerve in the wrist, arm, or elbow. The deep branch gives off the posterior interosseous nerve, which passes between the heads of the supinator muscle to enter the posterior compartment of the forearm, runs in the plane between the deep and superficial muscles of the compartment, and terminates at the level of the wrist joint.Cubital tunnel syndrome and radial tunnel syndrome aren't as familiar as their better-known relative - carpal tunnel syndrome - but they also can cause severe pain, numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness in the hands and arms. It eventually emerges from under the tendon of brachioradialis proximal to the radial styloid and passes over the anatomical snuffbox. It lies from above downwards on supinator, pronator teres and flexor digitorum superficialis and is posterior to brachioradialis. The superficial branch courses towards the wrist lateral to the radial artery (which runs with it one third of the way down the forearm) and enters the hand, dividing into the dorsal digital cutaneous branches. It enters the cubital fossa, where it divides into superficial and deep branches. It passes to the forearm by coursing anterior to the lateral epicondyle at the level of the elbow joint. It lies deep to the upper brachialis and then brachioradialis. It pierces the lateral intermuscular septum at the midpoint of the humerus to enter the anterior compartment of the arm. In the posterior compartment of the arm, it winds its way around the spiral groove of the humerus, accompanying profunda brachii artery. The radial nerve lies posterior to the axillary artery in the axilla and enters the posterior compartment of the arm under teres major muscle via the triangular interval. It receives contributions from C5-T1 nerve roots. The radial nerve is one of two terminal branches of the posterior cord of the brachial plexus. sensory: dorsal aspect of the thumb, index and middle fingers.motor: elbow, wrist and finger extension.
origin: one of two terminal branches of the posterior cord of the brachial plexus.