Do entrapment neuropathies occur in rheumatoid arthritis?
Inflammation and swelling of synovium, bursae, ligaments, or tendon sheaths can cause pressure on adjacent nerves. Entrapment neuropathies have been reported to occur in nearly half of patients with chronic RA at some point in their lifetime. There does not appear to be any correlation with duration of disease, positive rheumatoid factor, level of acute-phase reactants (sedimentation rate), functional class, or extraarticular disease. CTS occurs with a reported frequency of 23% to 69% in RA.
