This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by ROSÉN, B. Articles by ROSÉN, I. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by ROSÉN, B. Articles by ROSÉN, I. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Sensory Function after Median Nerve Decompression in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Preoperative vs postoperative findings

From the Departments of Hand Surgery and Clinical Neurophysiology, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Sweden

Correspondence: Ms B. Rosén, Department of Hand Surgery, Malmö University Hospital, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden.

The sensory recovery was monitored for up to 1 year after decompression of the median nerve in 69 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. Special attention was paid to the rate of recovery, the importance of constant or intermittent numbness or paraesthesiae preoperatively and the influence of gender.

Most patients with numbness/paraesthesiae and those with abnormal two-point discrimination recovered within 10 days. Perception of touch and vibration recovered within 3 weeks in most patients but those with abnormal nerve conduction/sensory amplitude recovered slowly during follow-up.

After 1 year patients with intermittent preoperative symptoms were significantly more likely to achieve normal nerve conduction and perception of touch. Women were more likely to achieve normal nerve conduction and perception of touch. A comparison of recovery between matched men and women with identical preoperative status showed no significant difference. The results indicate the importance of early treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 22, No. 5, 602-606 (1997)
DOI: 10.1016/S0266-7681(97)80356-7


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?