The Veteran's right thumb disability, which includes arthritis and subluxation, is currently rated at 10 percent. The Board finds that the evidence does not support a higher rating as there is no ankylosis or significant functional loss.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not find any evidence of ankylosis or additional limitation of motion after three repetitions, which are required for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 5228.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Thumb Arthritis, Thumb Subluxation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- February 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19111317
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,549 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19111317.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's right thumb arthritis is currently rated at 10 percent, but the Board found no evidence of a gap greater than two inches between the thumb pad and fingers, with the thumb attempting to oppose the fingers. Therefore, an increased rating beyond 10 percent is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development due to the need for a VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected right hand thumb and finger disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TBI, headaches, GERD, and right thumb arthritis are granted. The lower extremity radiculopathy claims are remanded for further examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's right thumb and little finger disabilities are rated at a 10 percent disability rating, effective March 22, 2013. The Veteran is granted a higher rating for the right thumb but denied for the right little finger.
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