A patient with a median nerve lesion at the wrist has which classic hand deformity?

• A Ulnar paradox with severe clawing of all four fingers
• B Wrist drop and loss of brachioradialis
• C Clawing of the index and middle fingers with thenar wasting ✓
• D Loss of hypothenar eminence with froment's sign

Explanation

At the wrist, the median nerve supplies the thenar muscles (abductor pollicis brevis, opponens pollicis, flexor pollicis brevis superficial head) and the first two lumbricals. Carpal tunnel syndrome (a distal median nerve lesion) causes thenar wasting and loss of thumb opposition. The index and middle fingers claw because the first two lumbricals are paralyzed while the flexor digitorum superficialis and profundus (innervated proximal to the wrist) remain active, causing an imbalance.

Reference: BD Chaurasia's Human Anatomy, 8th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.