General practice & prim · UKMLA & AKT
Carpal tunnel syndrome
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test. Below are the key points to recognise carpal tunnel syndrome — the full SA Note notes add investigations, management, complications and 10 practice questions.
Key high-yield points
- Paraesthesia and numbness - thumb, index, middle finger, and radial half of ring finger (median nerve distribution); little finger spared
- Nocturnal pain and tingling - classically wakes the patient from sleep
- Flick sign - shaking/flicking the wrist relieves symptoms; highly specific for CTS
- Wrist and forearm pain - may radiate proximally up the forearm
- Weakness of abductor pollicis brevis - motor sign indicating more advanced disease
- Thenar muscle wasting - flattening of thenar eminence; sign of chronic, severe compression
- Tinel's sign - percussion over carpal tunnel at wrist crease reproduces tingling in median nerve distribution
- Phalen's test - maximal wrist flexion held for 60 seconds reproduces symptoms
Unlock the full Carpal tunnel syndrome revision
Get the complete high-yield notes (3 more sections covering investigations, management and complications), 10 practice questions, mock exams and AI tutoring. Start free.