Is There an Association Between Ulnar Nerve Hypermobility and Neuropathy at the Elbow?

Abstract

To systematically review the association between ulnar nerve hypermobility (UNH) at the elbow and ulnar neuropathy (UNE). Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, MEDLINE, and Embase databases were searched for English language studies published up to July 4, 2020. We included case-control, cohort, and randomized controlled studies that established the presence or absence of UNH and UNE. Twenty out of 654 studies identified met the inclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently extracted data for analysis. Risk of bias and applicability were assessed with the QUADAS-2 tool. We compared rates of UNH between patients diagnosed with and without UNE and found no significant difference. The meta-analysis pooled rate of UNH was 0.37 (95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.57) for those without UNE and 0.33 (95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.45) for those with UNE. The clinical finding of UNH is unhelpful when assessing for UNE, as the presence of UNH does not make the diagnosis of UNE more likely.