Prevalence of Hypothyroidism Among Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Patients at a Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

IntroductionPatients with carpal tunnel syndrome have a high prevalence of hypothyroidism, therefore, it is recommended to assess thyroid function routinely in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. This study aims to determine the prevalence of hypothyroidism among carpal tunnel patients and to relate carpal tunnel in hypothyroidism to other socio-demographic factors. MethodsThis was a retrospective study carried out in King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 422 samples were collected conveniently from the files of patients who underwent carpal tunnel release surgery. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 was used for data processing. The chi-square test was used to test the association between the categorical variables. A p-value of less than .05 was considered to be significant. ResultsMost of the respondents were females and most of them within the age group of 46 to 60 years. Thirteen point eight percent (13.8%) of the respondents are suffering from hypothyroidism and 5% from the subclinical form of the disease. More than two-thirds of those with hypothyroidism were asymptomatic. The duration of the disease was one to five years, and bilateral nerve concerns were mostly present in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. The presence of thyroid abnormality doesn't affect the duration of carpal tunnel syndrome but body mass index (BMI) is significantly associated with hypothyroidism (p-value = .001). ConclusionClinical symptoms of hypothyroidism are mostly absent in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. Most patients with carpal tunnel syndrome have the disease for one to five years and this is not significantly associated with abnormal thyroid. Most patients have bilateral wrist involvement with no apparent symptoms and signs.

Assessment of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Female Patients With Hypothyroidism

“…As mentioned above, a possible explanation for unrelated clinical symptoms with electrodiagnostic grading in hypothyroidism patients may be the role of thyroid replacement therapy in reducing symptoms, regardless of its effect on electrodiagnostic parameters. Aldaghri et al, reported more than two-thirds of those with hypothyroidism were asymptomatic and the presence of thyroid abnormality doesn't affect the duration of carpal tunnel syndrome (Aldaghri et al, 2020).…”

"Assessment of knowledge and practice of Carpal tunnel syndrome among pregnant and non-pregnant women in Hail region, Saudi Arabia"

“…Furthermore, a study was done in Libya of an epidemiological study of CTS among pregnant women and it showed that most of the cases are improved by home physiotherapy 79.7% medications improved the cases by 20.3%, 37.8% of cases reported symptomatic relief after massage, 28.4% from rest and 4% from activity. Reducing weight before pregnancy, avoiding repetitive tasks that can aggravate CTS was recommended (Aldaghri et al, 2020).…”

“…Patients with severe symptoms can be treated by surgical decompression which provides a good outcome. However, surgical intervention is rarely indicated in pregnant patients (Aldaghri et al, 2020).…”

The Pathological Links between Adiposity and the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

“…A confounder in the relation between dyslipidemia and CTS that must be taken into account in epidemiological studies is hypothyroidism, as on one side, CTS is more frequent in patients with this medical condition, and on the other side, dyslipdemia, hyperinsulinemia and large waist circumference are present even in mild hypothyroidism [ 82 ]. In some studies, the body mass index (BMI) was the link between hypothyroidism and CTS [ 83 , 84 ]. Even in euthyroidism, the TSH level in the upper range significantly increases the chances of MetS [ 85 ].…”