You are examining a patient complaining of numbness and tingling of the hand and fingers. How might you determine whether this problem was due to pinching of nerve C8 or due to carpal tunnel syndrome (i.e., compression of the median nerve along its course)?
A. The patient will not be able to squeeze an object with the hand and fingers if the median nerve is involved; nerve C8 does not carry a motor supply to these muscles and cannot be involved.
B. The patient will be unable to extend the fingers if damage is to C8, since the median nerve is not involved in this action.
C. The patient will have sensation impairment in the lateral three and a half digits but not in the medial one and a half if the condition results from median nerve damage.
D. The patient will have sensation enhancement in the medial two digits and medial forearm if carpal tunnel syndrome is involved.
E. Choices A and C both are correct.