Evaluation of Clinical Symptoms in Patients with Different Severities of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Background: The carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common neuropathy caused by the entrapment of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. It causes pain and paresthesia in the hand. Objectives: To evaluate the role of clinical symptoms of CTS to determine the severity of this disorder. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study examined 75 hands of 40 patients were referred with CTS symptoms to Kashani and Alzahra hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, with signs of CTS from 2014 to 2015. The definitive diagnosis and severity of the disease were determined using electromyography and nerve conduction study (EMG-NCS). The correlation of the severity of CTS with clinical symptoms was examined using Spearman’s correlation coefficient and Man-Whitney test. Results: A total of 75 hands with CTS in 40 patients with mean age of 49.73 ± 12.53 years were examined (24% males, 76% female). The severity of CTS directly and significantly correlated with age, physical activities done with the involved hand, shaking or ringing the hands, weakness or atrophy of the thenar eminence, positive Phalenʹs test, and positive reverse Phalen’s test (p < 0.05). It correlated with duration of signs (p < 0.05) inversely and significantly and did not correlate with the score of pain (VAS) (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that the different severities of the disease cannot be differentiated only through evaluation of clinical symptoms although they played the main role in diagnosis of the disease. Thus, electrodiagnostic evidence is still required for determining its severity and planning the treatment.