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BY-NC-ND 3.0 license Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Access October 7, 2010

A rare cause of carpal tunnel syndrome in childhood: Benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis

  • Necati Balamtekin EMAIL logo , Nuray Uslu , Cagri Temucin , Hulya Demir and Inci Saltik Temizel
From the journal Open Medicine

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome and benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis are rare conditions in childhood. Benign intrahepatic cholestasis is characterized by repeated self-limited attacks of cholestasis that can start at any age and last from weeks to months. The patients are asymptomatic between these attacks. We report a 16 year-old male patient with benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis who developed carpal tunnel syndrome during a cholestatic attack. He was admitted with complaints of jaundice, pruritus and pain, tingling and muscle weakness in both hands for 15 days. Nerve conduction studies revealed findings compatible with carpal tunnel syndrome. He was started on ursodeoxycholic acid, fat soluble vitamins and cholestyramine and cholestasis regressed after four weeks of therapy. With the improvement of cholestasis, the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome also disappeared. In conclusion, benign recurrent intrahepatic cholestasis can be a rare cause of carpal tunnel syndrome in childhood. We also advocate treating the underlying disease as an appropriate conservative treatment before surgery.

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Published Online: 2010-10-7
Published in Print: 2010-12-1

© 2009 Versita Warsaw

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

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