The Functional Outcome of Mini Carpal Tunnel Release

Abstract

Introduction?Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most common compression neuropathies in the upper limbs and requires surgery if conservative treatment fails. This study assessed the functional outcome of vertical mini carpal tunnel release (CTR) at distal wrist crease. Objective?To evaluate prospectively the safety, effectiveness, and reproducibility of vertical mini-open blind technique for CTR. Methods?In total, 36 patients (40 hands) aged between 22 and 71 years with mild to moderate CTS based on nerve conduction studies were selected and screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The surgery was done with vertical mini-incision CTR at distal wrist crease. The preoperative and postoperative clinical outcomes and grip strength were evaluated with Levine?Katz questionnaire and JAMAR Hydraulic Hand Dynamometer with 3 months follow-up after surgery. Results?The mean score for both symptom severity and functional status reduced and mean handgrip strength improved 29.5% at 3 months after surgery. All the patients were satisfied with the cosmetic outcome of the scar. Three patients had scar tenderness. All patients were able to return to work within 4 weeks after surgery, except one who developed chronic regional pain syndrome. Conclusion?The vertical mini-open blind technique has been shown to be safe and easily reproducible and has short recovery period. All patients return to good functional status 3 months postoperative.

Effectiveness of mini-open carpal tunnel release: An outcome study

“…An additional strength of this study is that each patient received the same intervention (mini-open CTR) performed by the same surgeon, which further limited confounding factors. Previous descriptions of the advantages of the mini-open approach have been published [8,9], but they either had a shorter follow-up or a smaller sample than this study. In our study, 11% of patients suffered from an early complication (within 3 months post-intervention) (Table 6), which is in accordance with the published rates in the literature, which range from 1% to 25% [10].…”

Patisiran Enhances Muscle Mass after Nine Months of Treatment in ATTRv Amyloidosis: A Study with Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis and Handgrip Strength

“…HGS is a simple and cheap tool that is able to evaluate the distal strength in several conditions including hereditary polyneuropathies [21]. Moreover, Anbarasan et al demonstrated how it represents a functional outcome measure that significantly improved after mini carpal tunnel release [20]. A previous study from our group proved that HGS is reduced in ATTRv patients, probably because of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and polyneuropathy [16].…”

“…Since HGS is performed with just a dynamometer, it is an easy and cost-effective tool that allows one to measure the maximum isometric handgrip strength of the hand and forearm muscles [17]. HGS provides a quantitative measure of distal strength, and several studies have confirmed that HGS can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in several chronic diseases such as sarcopenia [18] we well as acquired neuropathy [19] such as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) [20] and hereditary neuropathy such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth [21]. Apart from a progressive sensory-motor neuropathy and cardiomyopathy, accompanying symptoms are reported in ATTRv such as autonomic dysfunction as well as gastrointestinal problems and unexplained weight loss [22].…”

A Clinical Outcome of Median Nerve Neurolysis For the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Conventional S-Shaped Versus Transwrist Mini-Incision Techniques

“…Anbarasan et al [29] recommended the miniincision approach for median nerve release in treatment of CTS. They reported improved functional scores and hand grip at the end of the third postoperative month.…”