Stenosing tenosynovitis in the hand and wrist are common conditions resulting in significant functional impairment for which treatments usually are straightforward; symptom resolution usually is complete with appropriate management. When the extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) and the abductor pollicis longus (APL) tendons in the first dorsal compartment are affected, the condition is named after the Swiss physician Fritz de Quervain, who described this malady in 1895. A peritendinitis also may affect these tendons proximal to the extensor retinaculum, causing pain, swelling, and crepitus in some patients. Cysts attached to the first dorsal compartment retinaculum and tendon triggering may also occur.
