The Ulnar Nerve

Chapter 14 of Volume 1, Hand & Upper Limb. Revision notes and examiner-style viva questions with model answers for the FRCS (Plast).

22 viva questions in this chapter

1. Take me through the course of the ulnar nerve.
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2. What compresses the ulnar nerve at the elbow?
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3. This man has wasting of the first dorsal interosseous. Examine his hand.
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4. Take me through the eponymous signs.
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5. What is the ulnar paradox?
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6. Which provocative tests would you use, and how good are they?
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7. A 52-year-old joiner has six months of numbness in the ring and little fingers and says “I keep dropping my chisel.” How do you assess him?
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8. How would you manage him non-operatively?
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9. You decide to operate. Which operation, and why?
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10. What about medial epicondylectomy?
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11. What are the complications, and what do you tell him?
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12. A 34-year-old cyclist has weakness of pinch and no sensory symptoms. What is going on?
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13. Take me through the decompression.
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14. This one has an ulnar artery aneurysm. Talk me through it.
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15. A 28-year-old has divided his ulnar nerve at the wrist on glass. What do you do, and what do you tell him?
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16. A 34-year-old presents four months after a blunt elbow injury with a high ulnar palsy. No reinnervation on EMG. What would you offer?
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17. What are you trying to restore in an ulnar nerve palsy?
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18. What are the principles of tendon transfer?
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19. What is Bouvier’s test and why does it matter?
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20. How would you correct a Bouvier-positive claw?
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21. He cannot pinch. What do you do?
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22. What about a high ulnar palsy, and combined palsies?
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