Wrist & hand decisions — 2009

The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for bilateral knee pain, left wrist pain and atypical chest pain.

The Board determined that the preponderance of the evidence is against service connection for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome as it was not manifested during active duty or within a year after, and there is no evidence linking the condition to any in-service event.

The Board denied higher initial ratings for residuals of right and left wrist sprains, as well as for right shoulder rotator cuff dysfunction, finding no evidence of functional impairment or pain on undertaking motion, fatigue, weakness, or incoordination.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral knee disability and lumbar spine disability, but found that new and material evidence had been submitted to reopen his claim for a left wrist disability.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for scheduling a Travel Board hearing.

The case is remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and severity of the Veteran's service-connected right wrist ganglion cyst.

The Board granted service connection for right and left carpal tunnel syndrome, but denied higher initial ratings for the veteran's wrist scars.

The Board is reopening the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disorder and bilateral hip condition on the basis of new and material evidence, but remanding these claims to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) for further development before readjudicating them on the underlying merits. The claim for service connection for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome is denied.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a right wrist injury (ganglion cyst) was denied as the evidence did not show that the ganglion cyst was related to his military service.

The Veteran's right wrist scapholunate dislocation, status post open reduction-internal fixation, is not shown to be more disabling than the currently assigned 10 percent rating.

The case is remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any current disabilities of the right third finger and left wrist, as well as an evaluation of the severity of the service-connected CAD.

The Board granted service connection for a left knee disability as proximately caused by the Veteran's altered gait due to his service-connected foot and ankle disabilities, but denied service connection for a left wrist disability. The effective date of the awards was set at April 17, 2003.

The Board denied the appeal for service connection for arthritis of the wrists, knees, and shoulders and hypertension as there was no credible evidence indicating that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by military service.

The appeal is remanded to the agency of original jurisdiction for further development and readjudication.

The Veteran's left wrist disability is not due to or the result of any of his service-connected conditions or any other incident of service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for higher initial evaluations for his thoracolumbar, right shoulder, and wrist disabilities as well as service connection for knee arthralgia, an eye disability, and gouty arthritis.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for degenerative disc disease, L5-S1 and strain of lumbar spine, degenerative joint disease and strain of the left knee, and carpal tunnel syndrome, right wrist and hand.

The Board reopened the claim for service connection for a right hip disorder and remanded all claims to the RO for further development before readjudicating them on the merits.

The Board denied service connection for left carpal tunnel syndrome, right lower extremity paresthesia, and left lower extremity paresthesia as there was no competent medical evidence of a current diagnosis.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right wrist condition was not reopened as the new evidence did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.