Hernia symptom may be rheumatic disease

Brain, Nerve and Spinal Cord Surgery specialist Prof. Dr. Orhan Şen stated that hernia symptoms may be 'Sapho Syndrome' seen in rheumatism patients.

Şen stated that 'Sapho Syndrome' is seen in people with hernia symptoms and that this may be a rheumatism disease. Şen said, “There are entrapment neuropathies that we call Sapho Syndrome, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Cubital Tunnel Syndrome or Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, which appear in rheumatism patients. In people with rheumatic diseases, narrowing of the grooves and pathways occurs due to problems in the bone structure. Depending on this narrowing, if you have a pinched nerve in your wrist, there is pain that wakes you up at night. Therefore, they have to shake their hands. If there is an entrapment at the elbow level, which we call the Cubital Tunnel, pain, numbness and related loss of strength occur towards the fingers.”

“Hernia symptom may be a rheumatic disease”

In what we call Sapho Syndrome, a patient came to me who had undergone local surgery on his left wrist, followed a few years later by surgery on his right wrist and then on his elbow. The reason he came to me was that when I get up in the morning, I am doubled over and I have back pain when I sit and get up. He never told me about the operations on his wrist and hand. When I was examining the patient, I immediately looked at his elbows and saw the surgical scars. When I asked the patient himself, he described this clinical picture. Then I explained that the pain in the lower back was not related to hernia, that these patients had Sapho Syndrome and that they should definitely be seen by a rheumatologist. I met with my rheumatologist friend and explained the disease. The patient went to a rheumatologist and the diagnosis was rheumatic disease. At least we will be able to control rheumatic diseases for the future. I wish our patient had come earlier and not undergone so many surgeries. Plus, over time, there are entrapment neuropathies at the knee and ankle level. At least we are getting rid of these and we are saving him from other conditions related to rheumatism.