8 Kevin presents to your office after a mountain biking accident last weekend du

Question

8 Kevin presents to your office after a mountain biking accident last weekend during which he fell on his left w. He says that since the accident, his forearm alternates between periods of numbness and feeling "like he has hit his funny bone." You test the two-point discrimination on Kevin's left fifth digit and find that it is 6 mm On his right fifth digit, however, it is less than 1 mm. You also find that his forearm muscles that flex his hand on the left side are very weak, as are most of the intrinsic muscles of his left hand. What has likely happened? How does this explain the results of the two-point discrimination test? (Hint: You may want to refer to Unit 14, pp. 359-388, for help.)

Explanation / Answer

Two point discrimination is the potential to distinguish two compass points simultaneously applied to the skin.

On the fingers it should be possible to discriminate two points separated by less than 5mm however on the dorsum of the foot, a distance as great as 5cm as the lowest level of discrimination may be normal.

Two point discrimination may be impaired by both damage to the medical lemniscus pathway and peripheral nerve damage. This test is used to assess the quality of tactile sensibility.

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