Snapping wrist due to bony prominence and tenosynovitis of the first extensor compartment: A case report

BACKGROUND: A snapping wrist is a rare symptom that results from the sudden impingement of one anatomic structure against another, subsequently causing a sudden movement only during wrist movement. CASE SUMMARY: A 30-year-old woman with a history of right wrist contusion reported right wrist snapping after overuse. The snapping became symptomatic after moving heavy objects. The pain persisted even when she received 1 mo of conservative treatment. Physical examination showed painful wrist snapping during wrist radioulnar motion and thumb abduction-adduction. Radiography demonstrated bone overgrowth over the radial styloid process. Sonography disclosed a tendon jumping over a bony prominence in the first compartment during wrist motion. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed no anomalous tendon nor tumorlike lesion. Under the wide-awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) technique, the lesion was identified in the first extensor compartment. The patient received stepwise extensor retinaculum release, synovectomy, and bone spur removal. By 6(th )week, the patient was completely free of pain and unable to snap her wrist. She started working 7 wk after the surgery. One year after the surgery, the wrist snap was not recurrent. CONCLUSION: Careful physical examination and dynamic sonography may confirm the diagnosis of a snapping wrist. With the WALANT technique, the lesion could be identified under direct vision, and we could take stepwise interventions according to intraoperative presentations.