Tuberculous infection of the hand is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis that, left untreated, can cause serious joint and tendon damage. We report the case of a 65-year-old male patient who presented with an insidious flexor weakness of the fifth finger but without any history of trauma. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a partial tear of the fifth finger flexor tendon with a fluid collection in the tendon sheath and in the flexor compartment along the ulnar side. Under ultrasound guidance, this fluid collection was aspirated and analyzed for Mycobacterium tuberculosis using polymerase chain reaction. The assay was positive for the microorganism, confirming the diagnosis of tuberculous tenosynovitis and ulnar bursitis of the wrist. The early suspicion and diagnosis of this extrapulmonary disease facilitated anti-tuberculous chemotherapy and helped avoid a hasty injection of corticosteroid.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Tuberculous flexor tenosynovitis of wrist and hand Sanjay Kumar Giri, Santanu Suba, Ahana Bandyopadhyay, Pavithra R BMJ Case Reports.2023; 16(3): e252286. CrossRef
Endoscopic Resection of Ulnar Bursa of the Palm: 2 Ulnar Portals Technique Tun Hing Lui, Odin Tymon Leung Arthroscopy Techniques.2023; 12(10): e1765. CrossRef
Isolated multidrug-resistant tubercular tenosynovitis of the flexor tendon of the little finger Sunny Chaudhary, Subhajit Maji, Varun Garg, Vivek Singh BMJ Case Reports.2021; 14(2): e238339. CrossRef
Idoneidad de la punción guiada por ecografía de alta resolución en el diagnóstico de una tumoración de partes blandas infectada por Mycobacterium tuberculosis Hèctor Corominas, Dèlia Reina, Vicenç Torrente-Segarra, Cristina Chico, Vanessa Antón, Paula Estrada, Vanessa Navarro Reumatología Clínica.2018; 14(3): 171. CrossRef
Suitability of a High-resolution Ultrasound-guided Puncture in the Diagnosis of a Soft Tissue Mass Infected With Mycobacterium tuberculosis Hèctor Corominas, Dèlia Reina, Vicenç Torrente-Segarra, Cristina Chico, Vanessa Antón, Paula Estrada, Vanessa Navarro Reumatología Clínica (English Edition).2018; 14(3): 171. CrossRef
Endoscopic Synovectomy of the Ulnar Bursa of the Palm of the Hand Tun Hing Lui, Jeffrey Chun Yin Lee Arthroscopy Techniques.2018; 7(12): e1257. CrossRef
Flexor Tenosynovitis of the Hand Caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis Samuel Cohen-Tanugi, Margart L. Wright, R. Kumar Kadiyala JAAOS: Global Research and Reviews.2018; 2(4): e083. CrossRef
Flexor Tenosynovitis Due to Tuberculosis in Hand and Wrist Fatih Kabakaş, Meriç Uğurlar, Derya Bayirli Turan, Nebil Yeşiloğlu, Berkan Mersa, İsmail Bülent Özçelik Annals of Plastic Surgery.2016; 77(2): 169. CrossRef
Tuberculous Tenosynovitis of the Wrist and Hand- A Case report Tânia Freitas MOJ Orthopedics & Rheumatology.2016;[Epub] CrossRef
Tenosynovitis: a rare presentation of tuberculosis better known by hand surgeons than infectious diseases specialists Emmanuelle Weber, Amandine Gagneux-Brunon, V. Jacomo, Thibault Rousselon, Frederic Lucht, Elisabeth Botelho-Nevers Infection.2015; 43(3): 261. CrossRef
Tuberculous flexor tenosynovitis of the hand Mohamed Ali Sbai, Sofien Benzarti, Monia Boussen, Riadh Maalla International Journal of Mycobacteriology.2015; 4(4): 347. CrossRef