Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

Compression of the ULNAR NERVE in the cubital tunnel, which is formed by the two heads of the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle, humeral-ulnar aponeurosis, and medial ligaments of the elbow. This condition may follow trauma or occur in association with processes which produce nerve enlargement or narrowing of the canal. Manifestations include elbow pain and PARESTHESIA radiating distally, weakness of ulnar innervated intrinsic hand muscles, and loss of sensation over the hypothenar region, fifth finger, and ulnar aspect of the ring finger. (Joynt, Clinical Neurology, 1995, Ch51, p43)

Also Known As:

Networked: 206 relevant articles (18 outcomes, 48 trials/studies)

Relationship Network

Disease Context: Research Results

Related Diseases

1.	Ulnar Nerve Compression Syndromes (Ulnar Nerve Entrapment)
2.	Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
3.	Wounds and Injuries (Trauma)
4.	Ulnar Neuropathies (Ulnar Neuropathy)
5.	Paralysis (Palsy)

Experts

1.	Mackinnon, Susan E: 6 articles (01/2022 - 04/2019)
2.	Yee, Andrew: 3 articles (01/2022 - 01/2020)
3.	Ilyas, Asif M: 3 articles (10/2020 - 04/2019)
4.	Unglaub, F: 3 articles (09/2020 - 04/2011)
5.	Power, Hollie A: 3 articles (06/2020 - 04/2019)
6.	Patterson, Megan M: 3 articles (01/2020 - 04/2019)
7.	Dong, Zhen: 3 articles (03/2019 - 09/2016)
8.	Osterman, A Lee: 3 articles (04/2016 - 08/2007)
9.	Arino, H: 3 articles (06/2013 - 11/2000)
10.	Schwerdtfeger, K: 3 articles (05/2011 - 10/2005)

Drugs and Biologics

Drugs and Important Biological Agents (IBA) related to Cubital Tunnel Syndrome:

1.	ElementsIBA 07/01/1977 - "Twenty-three percent of the patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and 11 percent of the patients with cubital tunnel syndrome also had abnormal F-wave studies, indicating an additional element of proximal entrapment. "
2.	mesoglycanIBA 02/01/2020 - "Two independent reviewers conducted a PRISMA-compliant search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases for relevant studies about clinical comparisons of OISD and EISD in cubital tunnel syndrome. "
3.	SteroidsIBA 04/01/2015 - "To investigate the feasibility of ultrasound (US)-guided steroid injection by in-plane approach for cubital tunnel syndrome (CuTS), based on symptomatic, morphologic and electrophysiological outcomes. " 06/01/1996 - "The addition of a steroid injection did not provide further benefit in the treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome."
4.	Calcium PyrophosphateIBA 03/01/2001 - "Cubital tunnel syndrome caused by tumoral deposition of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals: a case report." 09/01/1996 - "Nine patients (11 elbows) presented with cubital tunnel syndrome that was complicated by calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal deposition disease. " 09/01/1996 - "Cubital tunnel syndrome associated with calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease."
5.	Opioid Analgesics (Opioids)IBA 10/01/2023 - "It has been shown that patient demographics such as age, payer factors such as insurance type, clinical characteristics such as preoperative opioid use, and disease grade but not surgical procedure are associated with revision surgery to treat cubital tunnel syndrome. " 01/01/2017 - "Effective interventions were described for painful diabetic neuropathy (pregabalin, gabapentin, certain tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs], opioids, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants), postherpetic neuralgia (gabapentin, pregabalin, certain TCAs, antidepressants and anticonvulsants, opioids, sodium valproate, topical capsaicin, and lidocaine), lumbar radicular pain (epidural corticosteroids, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [rTMS], and discectomy), cervical radicular pain (rTMS), carpal tunnel syndrome (carpal tunnel release), cubital tunnel syndrome (simple decompression and ulnar nerve transposition), trigeminal neuralgia (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and pimozide for refractory cases, rTMS), HIV-related neuropathy (topical capsaicin), and central NeuP (certain TCAs, pregabalin, cannabinoids, and rTMS). "
6.	Adrenal Cortex Hormones (Corticosteroids)IBA 01/01/1980 - "Treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome by means of local administration of corticosteroids. " 01/01/2017 - "Effective interventions were described for painful diabetic neuropathy (pregabalin, gabapentin, certain tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs], opioids, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants), postherpetic neuralgia (gabapentin, pregabalin, certain TCAs, antidepressants and anticonvulsants, opioids, sodium valproate, topical capsaicin, and lidocaine), lumbar radicular pain (epidural corticosteroids, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [rTMS], and discectomy), cervical radicular pain (rTMS), carpal tunnel syndrome (carpal tunnel release), cubital tunnel syndrome (simple decompression and ulnar nerve transposition), trigeminal neuralgia (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and pimozide for refractory cases, rTMS), HIV-related neuropathy (topical capsaicin), and central NeuP (certain TCAs, pregabalin, cannabinoids, and rTMS). "
7.	Therapeutic UsesIBA 08/01/2006 - "To investigate the clinical therapeutic effect of the ulnar neurolysis and nerve anterior transposition with an immediate range of motion for the cubital tunnel syndrome in the aged. "
8.	MicroRNAs (MicroRNA)IBA 07/01/2017 - "Differential expression of miRNAs in Osborne's ligament of cubital tunnel syndrome."
9.	Valproic Acid (Depakote)FDA LinkGeneric 01/01/2017 - "Effective interventions were described for painful diabetic neuropathy (pregabalin, gabapentin, certain tricyclic antidepressants [TCAs], opioids, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants), postherpetic neuralgia (gabapentin, pregabalin, certain TCAs, antidepressants and anticonvulsants, opioids, sodium valproate, topical capsaicin, and lidocaine), lumbar radicular pain (epidural corticosteroids, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation [rTMS], and discectomy), cervical radicular pain (rTMS), carpal tunnel syndrome (carpal tunnel release), cubital tunnel syndrome (simple decompression and ulnar nerve transposition), trigeminal neuralgia (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and pimozide for refractory cases, rTMS), HIV-related neuropathy (topical capsaicin), and central NeuP (certain TCAs, pregabalin, cannabinoids, and rTMS). "
10.	Prednisone (Sone)FDA LinkGeneric 02/01/2023 - "The inclusion criteria were surgical indication for ulnar nerve release and clinical treatment failure for 4 weeks in patients with cubital tunnel syndrome who had their ulnar nerve function, whether motor or sensitive, deteriorated progressively despite the treatment with prednisone 1 mg/kg/day and physiotherapy. "

Therapies and Procedures

1.	Decompression 01/01/2018 - "Significant improvement but not complete recovery could be expected following in situ decompression or subcutaneous transposition for severe cubital tunnel syndrome. " 04/01/2004 - "Decompression is a minimally invasive procedure, but very effective for mild as well as for severe cases and therefore the optimal treatment in cubital tunnel syndrome." 11/01/2017 - "In situ decompression and transposition are equally effective in cubital tunnel syndrome treatment. " 03/01/2016 - "We hypothesized that 1) simple decompression or anterior ulnar nerve transposition, depending on nerve stability, would be effective for cubital tunnel syndrome and that 2) there would be determining factors of the clinical outcome at two years. " 11/01/2000 - "We therefore conclude that minimal medial epicondylectomy combined with ulnar nerve decompression is an effective treatment for cubital tunnel syndrome and that a larger excision of the medial epicondyle should be avoided."
2.	Surgical Decompression 10/01/2018 - "Surgical decompression of the ulnar nerve (UN) is effective for treating cubital tunnel syndrome (CubTS). " 02/05/2018 - "Surgical decompression of the ulnar nerve is effective for cubital tunnel syndrome. " 10/01/2019 - "The patient was diagnosed with cubital tunnel syndrome which was further confirmed by nerve conduction studies, and she underwent surgical decompression of the nerve. " 12/01/2020 - "Additionally, cubital tunnel syndrome associated with ulnar nerve subluxation/instability has recently been found to have better outcomes following surgical decompression of the ulnar nerve and transposition than those with stable ulnar nerves. " 05/01/2015 - "To evaluate the clinical results of revision neurolysis and wrapping with porcine extracellular matrix (AxoGuard Nerve Protector, AxoGen Inc., Alachua, FL) for cubital tunnel syndrome after one previous surgical decompression. "
3.	Conservative Treatment 11/01/2004 - "Movement-based management may be beneficial in the conservative management of cubital tunnel syndrome. " 04/01/2009 - "Conservative treatment of the cubital tunnel syndrome was evaluated in a randomised study of 70 patients with mild or moderate symptoms (Dellon, 1989). " 11/01/1993 - "Criteria for inclusion in the study included active participation in athletic activity, confirmed cubital tunnel syndrome, failure to respond to conservative treatment, and having an anterior subcutaneous subfascial transfer as the only procedure performed. " 04/01/2021 - "Various conservative treatments and surgical techniques have been reported in the literature as efficient and feasible measures to treat the cubital tunnel syndrome. " 05/23/2019 - "Conservative treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome: A systematic review."
4.	Tendon Transfer 01/01/2009 - "The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of tendon transfer to restore index finger abduction for severe cubital tunnel syndrome. " 01/01/2009 - "The extensor pollicis brevis tendon transfer is simple and useful to restore index finger abduction and pinch strength for severe cubital tunnel syndrome." 01/01/2009 - "Effects of tendon transfer to restore index finger abduction for severe cubital tunnel syndrome." 01/01/2009 - "Sixteen hands in 15 patients with severe cubital tunnel syndrome were operated on with extensor pollicis brevis tendon transfer to the first dorsal interosseous muscle to restore index finger abduction and ulnar nerve decompression. " 01/01/2009 - "A combined operation of tendon transfer to restore index finger abduction and decompression of the ulnar nerve was performed for patients with severe cubital tunnel syndrome who required powerful pinch strength and whose preoperative compound muscle action potential of the abductor digiti minimi muscle was not recordable or almost non-recordable. "
5.	Physical Therapy Modalities (Physical Therapy Technique) 04/01/2001 - "Based on the authors' experience in the treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome, they are confident that anterior transmuscular transposition of the ulnar nerve obtains the best results when the preoperative algorithm is properly applied and early postoperative physical therapy is instituted."