Treatment and Prognosis
Conservative measures consist of educating the patient to adopt avoidance behaviours. However, this seldom works in young, physically-active patients, especially if symptoms are occupation related.
Conditioning exercises, and periodically injecting the nerve with bupivacaine and dexamethasone, may accord long-term relief.
Surgery is recommended for physically-active patients and those with severe and long-standing symptoms or weakness.
Prognosis
Symptomatic improvement is expected in 95% of patients who undergo decompression, often within days of the surgery.
However, long-term weakness and atrophy may take many months to improve, and some patients never regain full strength.