Lesions of the flexor carpi radialis tendon and sheath causing pain at the wrist.

Pain at the front of the radial side of the wrist or at the base of the thenar eminence is a common complaint. Conditions such as osteoarthritis of the first carpo-metacarpal joint, ununited fractures of the scaphoid bone and ganglia at the front of the wrist are easily recognised but the diagnosis may not be straightforward. Since 1952 we have operated on twelve patients who had pain from various lesions of the flexor carpi radialis tendon and sheath, and on one other in whom no abnormality was found. Seventeen other patients had pain with similar physical signs but their wrists were not explored. The whole group consisted of twenty-eight women between nineteen and seventy-eight years, eighteen being over fifty, and two men of fifty-four (Fig. 1).