Advanced Median Nerve Quiz

Q1. A median nerve lesion in the arm proximal to the elbow would most directly weaken which forearm movements?

• Elbow extension and wrist extension
• Forearm pronation and flexion of several wrist and finger joints
• Finger abduction and adduction only
• Shoulder abduction and lateral rotation

Q2. Compression of the median nerve between the heads of pronator teres is associated with which entrapment syndrome?

• Cubital tunnel syndrome
• Radial tunnel syndrome
• Pronator syndrome
• Guyon canal syndrome

Q3. Which finding helps distinguish a proximal median nerve lesion from typical carpal tunnel syndrome?

• Paresthesia of the middle finger
• Numbness of the index fingertip
• Sensory loss over the thenar eminence
• Weakness of thumb opposition

Q4. Which movement is characteristically impaired by an anterior interosseous nerve lesion?

• Extension of the thumb and index finger
• Flexion of the thumb interphalangeal joint and index distal interphalangeal joint
• Abduction of all fingers
• Extension of the elbow

Q5. A patient with anterior interosseous nerve palsy may have difficulty making which hand gesture?

• A normal tip to tip OK sign
• Finger abduction against resistance
• Elbow extension against resistance
• Thumb extension at the carpometacarpal joint

Q6. Why does anterior interosseous nerve syndrome typically lack a cutaneous sensory deficit?

• It is a branch of the radial nerve
• The anterior interosseous nerve has no cutaneous sensory distribution
• It supplies only skin over the elbow
• It becomes the palmar cutaneous branch at the wrist

Q7. Which thenar movement is particularly affected by injury to the recurrent branch of the median nerve?

• Thumb opposition
• Thumb extension
• Adduction of the thumb
• Extension of the index finger

Q8. A severe proximal median nerve lesion can produce the hand of benediction appearance during which action?

• Extending the elbow
• Extending the wrist
• Abducting the shoulder
• Attempting to make a fist

Q9. Why is sensation over the central thenar eminence often preserved in carpal tunnel syndrome?

• The thenar eminence is supplied exclusively by the radial nerve
• The ulnar nerve travels through the carpal tunnel instead
• The median nerve terminates before reaching the wrist
• The palmar cutaneous branch passes superficial to the flexor retinaculum

Q10. Which description best summarizes the median nerve?

• A sensory nerve that terminates in the arm without entering the forearm
• A posterior cord nerve supplying the triceps and posterior forearm exclusively
• A medial cord nerve confined to the intrinsic muscles of the hand
• A C5 to T1 nerve formed from lateral and medial cords that supplies much of the anterior forearm and important structures of the hand