There are many ways to acquire radial nerve palsy. The term Saturday Night Palsy refers to an injury to the radial nerve in the spiral groove of the humerus caused while sleeping in a position that would under normal circumstances cause discomfort. It can occur when a person falls asleep while heavily medicated and/or under the influence of alcohol with the underside of the arm compressed by a bar edge, bench, chair back, or like object. Sleeping with the head resting on the arm can also cause radial nerve palsy. Breaking the humerus and deep puncture wounds can also cause the condition. Posterior interosseus palsy is distinguished from radial nerve palsy by the preservation of elbow extension. Symptoms vary depending on the severity and location of the trauma; however, common symptoms include wrist drop (the inability to extend the wrist upward when the hand is palm down); numbness of the back of the hand and wrist, specifically over the first web space which is innervated by the radial nerve; and inability to voluntarily straighten the fingers or extend the thumb, which is performed by muscles of the extensor group, all of which are primarily innervated by the radial nerve. Loss of wrist extension is due to paralysis of the posterior compartment of forearm muscles; although the elbow extensors are also innervated by the radial nerve, their innervation is usually spared because the compression occurs below, distal, to the level of the axillary nerve, which innervates the long head of the triceps, and the upper branches of the radial nerve that innervate the remainder of the Triceps. Saturnine neuropathy can also be a cause of radial neuropathy (radial palsy).
Radial nerve dysfunction
Radial neuropathy
Median nerve palsy
Ulnar neuropathy
Calpainopathy
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
Peroneal nerve paralysis
Phantom limb