Radial entrapment neuropathy due to chronic injection-induced triceps fibrosis

We report two patients who developed progressive, severe, painless radial n europathies (bilateral in one, unilateral in the other) as a delayed compli cation of chronic intramuscular analgesic injection, in each instance, expl oration of the radial nerve revealed multifocal entrapment within a densely fibrotic triceps muscle at sites between the spiral groove and distal cour se of the radial nerve near the elbow. Release of the nerve from constricti on within the fibrotic triceps muscle produced improvement in all three aff ected nerves. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.