TITLE:
Etiologies of Non-Traumatic Wrist and Hand Pain in Rheumatology in Bouake: About 50 Patients
AUTHORS:
Ehaulier Soh Christian Louis Kouakou, Joseph Kan Enock Koffi, Jean Jacques Goua, Aissata Traoré, Charles Sougué, Konan Joe Clauvis Yao, Jean Claude Felix Daboiko
KEYWORDS:
Wrist, Hand, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Bouaké
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases,
Vol.16 No.4,
November
12,
2026
ABSTRACT: Introduction: The wrist and hand play a very important role in human life (1.2). In addition to grasping and touching, they are involved in virtually all of a person’s daily activities (1,2). Pain in the hand and/or wrist causes functional impairment in carrying out daily activities, thus constituting a major problem for both the patient and society (1.2). Objective: To describe the epidemiological and diagnostic characteristics of non-traumatic hand and wrist disorders (NTMP) in Bouaké (Côte d’Ivoire). Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020 (six years), of patients with non-traumatic hand and/or wrist pathology seen in rheumatology in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire. Results: Fifty out of 3210 patients suffered from NTMP pain (1.56 per cent). Their average age was 51.42 years (ranging from 10 to 86 years), and the sex ratio was 0.25 (10 men and 40 women). Twenty-six patients had a mechanical or degenerative condition (52 per cent), comprising four cases of osteoarthritis of the hands (8 per cent), 14 cases of carpal tunnel syndrome (28 per cent), five cases of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (10 per cent), two cases of trigger finger (4 per cent), and one case of diabetic cheiroarthropathy (2 per cent). Eighteen patients had chronic inflammatory rheumatism (36 per cent), comprising five cases of reactive arthritis (10 per cent) and 13 cases of rheumatoid arthritis (26 per cent), which was sometimes deforming (8 cases), erosive (7 cases) and immunopositive (10 cases). Six patients had microcrystalline arthropathy (12 per cent), comprising one case of chondrocalcinosis (2 per cent) and five cases of polyarticular tophaceous gout with destructive arthropathy (10 per cent). Conclusion: Non-traumatic pathology of the hand and wrist is not rare in rheumatological practice in Bouaké. They are represented by mechanical and degenerative pathologies, chronic inflammatory rheumatism, and microcrystalline arthropathies. Carpal tunnel syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis are the most common diagnoses.