Symptoms of entrapment neuropathies
Gain of function, typically reflecting abnormal excitability or reduced inhibition of the peripheral nerve:
- • Paresthesia
- • Spontaneous pain
- • Hyperalgesia
- • Allodynia.
Loss of function, indicating reduced impulse conduction:
- • Hypoesthesia or anesthesia
- • Muscle weakness and atrophy are severe and late findings indicating denervation.
Other important points:
- • Symptoms are typically worse at night (often due to lack of distraction and poor positioning)
- • Often unilateral, with the exception of idiopathic CTS
- • Swelling or vasomotor abnormalities are absent
- • While these symptoms of entrapment neuropathies may occur in specific patterns associated with the nerve affected, there is evidence that symptoms may occur outside of the nerve distribution. This may be due to neuroinflammation in peripheral nerve injuries caused by immune cells recruited to the site and/or by the large variability and overlap of dermatomes in individuals.
