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Using the constant infusion technique, we have measured the pressures within the carpal tunnel in 30 hands in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and in 4 hands in control subjects. The mean pressure in the normal, control subjects was 13 mmHg and in the carpal tunnel syndrome patients 26 mmHg. In the normal subjects the pressures did not change along the canal, whereas in the patients the values in the middle section were 50 percent higher than the mean. Our results correspond to reports of computed tomography and magnetic resonance recordings of nonuniform dimension of the carpal tunnel.

In 19 carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) patients and 4 control subjects a catheter was introduced into the carpal tunnel and slowly retracted in 5 mm steps. Pressure was measured with the continuous infusion technique. In the same group of patients and controls, median nerve antidromic sensory action potential (aSAP) was detected intraoperatively stimulating proximally (S1), in the center (S2), and distally (S3) to the carpal tunnel and recording from the third finger (R). Sensory conduction velocity (SCV) and aSAP amplitude were considered in S1-S2, S2-S3 and S3-R segments. The intracarpal tunnel pressure was significantly higher in CTS patients than in controls, with the highest values located between 25 and 35 mm distal to the proximal border of the flexor retinaculum. SCV and aSAP amplitude were also decreased most often in the distal part (S2-S3) of the carpal tunnel.

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