Tonali P. Carpal tunnel syndrome: neurophysiological results of surgery based on preoperative electrodiagnostic testing
Fifty-three hands with carpal tunnel syndrome had pre-and postoperative evaluations of median nerve distal motor latency (from wrist to thenar muscles) and orth0dromic sensory nerve conduction velocity (from thumb and middle finger to wrist). At 6 months we observed a neurophysiological return to no...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1035.4566 http://jhs.sagepub.com/content/22/5/599.full.pdf |
| Summary: | Fifty-three hands with carpal tunnel syndrome had pre-and postoperative evaluations of median nerve distal motor latency (from wrist to thenar muscles) and orth0dromic sensory nerve conduction velocity (from thumb and middle finger to wrist). At 6 months we observed a neurophysiological return to normal in all cases with normal preoperative distal motor latency and in about 50% of the hands with preoperative distal motor latency between 4 and 6 ms. Prolongation of the distal motor latency over 6 ms was not followed by return to neurophysiological normality, although some degree of sensory function was restored in the majority of cases. (British and European Volume, 1997) 22B: 5:599-601 The treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) includes anti-inflammatory drugs, local corticosteroid infiltration and wrist splinting. However, surgical decompression is the only approach that can offer the possibility of a definitive cure (AAN Quality Assurance Committee, 1993; Kulick et al, 1986; Journal of Hand Surgery Many authors have studied the outcome after surgery for CTS The most common neurophysiological techniques used for the diagnosis of CTS are measurement of distal motor latency (DML) of the median nerve and sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) between a finger and the wrist. The slowing of SNCV may be the only manifestation of early CTS (AAEM Quality Assurance Committee, 1993). In more advanced cases the DML is also increased, and in case of severe compression, the latter finding is associated with loss of the sensory response (SR) and in extreme cases loss of motor response too. The aim of this study was to evaluate the neurophysiological results of surgery for CTS based on routine preoperative electrodiagnostic tests. PATIENTS AND METHODS We prospectively analysed the pre-and postoperative clinical and neurophysiological findings in 53 hands of 41 consecutive patients (12 men, 29 women; mean age = 52.1 years, range 25-79) who were treated by operation between September 1993 and April 1994. The diagnosis of ... |
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