Which structure is most likely involved when numbness and weakness with sensory loss are present due to nerve compression?

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When numbness with sensory loss and weakness is seen in the context of a compressive process, the site most likely involved is a peripheral nerve. Peripheral nerves bundle together sensory fibers that provide feeling and motor fibers that control muscles, all within the same structure. Compression disrupts conduction along both sets of fibers in that nerve, so you get sensory symptoms like numbness or tingling in the affected area and weakness of the muscles supplied by that nerve.

If the issue were at the dorsal root ganglion, you’d expect sensory disturbances in a dermatomal distribution, but not the motor weakness, since motor fibers aren’t housed there. Compression at the spinal cord or brain would produce a broader or different pattern of deficits rather than a focal nerve distribution.