Common mononeuropathies
Median, ulnar, radial, common peroneal, femoral and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve lesions; telling them from root lesions at the bedside, nerve conduction timing, and when a mononeuropathy is really mononeuritis multiplex.
Tier 1Condition
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- A mononeuropathy is a lesion of one nerve: usually compression or entrapment, sometimes trauma, infarction or infiltration.
- The common ones are median at the wrist (carpal tunnel syndrome), ulnar at the elbow, radial at the spiral groove, common peroneal at the fibular head and lateral femoral cutaneous (meralgia paraesthetica).
- Bedside localisation separates nerve from root. Know which muscles and skin areas each nerve does and doesn't supply.
Loading the rest of the note…
Finished reading?
Sources
- Therapeutic Guidelines: NeurologyAU/NZTherapeutic Guidelines Limited
- Management of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Evidence-Based Clinical Practice GuidelineAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2024
- Peripheral Nerve Society Guideline on the classification, diagnosis, investigation, and immunosuppressive therapy of non-systemic vasculitic neuropathy: executive summary (Collins MP et al. J Peripher Nerv Syst 2010;15(3):176-184)Peripheral Nerve Society, 2010
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
- 14 November 2026 Personal emails, About story and Australian-style copy