Canadian Bianca Andreescu beat Raducanu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 on Wednesday in a clash of two former US Open champions which produced some moments of quality from the British 20-year-old.
But Raducanu was visibly troubled by her wrist and after leaving the court she said that it was time to consider whether it was no longer an injury she could simply try to play through.
"It's something I have been managing for some time. I just need to review after this tournament really and figure out what my next steps are," she told reporters.
"We have been managing it, keeping on top of it. I'm able to play in the short-term. But the current solutions aren't very viable long-term," she added.
The wrist problem will be particularly frustrating for Raducanu after she showed signs of being on an upward trend with her run to the last 16 at Indian Wells.
Since winning the US Open in sensational fashion in 2021, Raducanu has been plagued by injuries and fitness problems and they show no signs of ending any time soon.
“I think that I'm doing the right things day to day, which brings me confidence. This year has been difficult in the sense that I have been managing a few existing injuries.
"Yeah, that has been annoying and frustrating because I've been working as best as I can. But I feel like I'm enjoying the competition," she added.
Raducanu said her injury was behind her decision not to play in the Billie Jean King Cup tie against France on hard courts in Coventry in mid-April.
The 20-year-old will play on clay in Stuttgart in the following week.
"Because of my existing injuries, the best medical advice was to not switch surfaces at such short notice. So that's what I've been told," she said.
Murray crashes out
There was further bad news for Britain with two-time Miami winner Andy Murray crashing out in the first round after a 6-4 7-5 loss to Serbia's Dusan Lajovic.
Murray has made a reasonably promising start to the year, reaching the final in Doha but he was well below-par as he crashed out to 76th ranked, 32-year-old Lajovic.
The Serb took his chances - winning 72 per cent of second-serve points and saved two of the three break points he faced, while converting all three opportunities on Murray's serve.
At 5-4 down in the second, Murray showed his grit to break Lajovic and raise hopes of a comeback but he was quickly broken back as he paid the price for some mis-timed strokes.
"Some days you don't hit the ball your best but my movement (also) wasn't quite there," said Murray who said he didn't see such a setback on the horizon.
"I've been practising pretty well. It's a very different court, very bouncy and much faster than last week (in Indian Wells), very different to the practice courts and...I just struggled a bit," he said.
