A 38-year-old new mother presents with radial-sided wrist pain for 6 weeks, worse with lifting the baby. Examination reveals tenderness over the first dorsal compartment and pain with ulnar deviation of the wrist while the thumb is flexed and adducted across the palm (Finkelstein's test positive). The tendons involved in this condition are:

• A Abductor pollicis longus and extensor carpi radialis brevis
• B Extensor pollicis longus and extensor pollicis brevis
• C Abductor pollicis longus and extensor pollicis brevis ✓
• D Extensor pollicis longus and abductor pollicis brevis

Explanation

De Quervain's tenosynovitis involves the first dorsal compartment, which contains the abductor pollicis longus (APL) and extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) tendons. Finkelstein's test (ulnar deviation with thumb flexed and adducted) reproduces pain by stretching these tendons. The extensor pollicis longus lies in the third compartment, not the first, which eliminates options B and D. The abductor pollicis brevis is a thenar muscle innervated by the median nerve, not a wrist tendon, eliminating option D.

Reference: Green's Operative Hand Surgery, 8th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.