SURGICAL TREATMENT OF CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome.Material and Methods: The study was conducted in Khyber Teaching Hospital from December 2001 to December 2002. Forty patients with carpal tunnel syndrome who did not respond to conservative treatment with analgesics, a splintage and local steroid injection were operated under local anaesthesia and median nerve was decompressed with transverse carpal ligament release. The patients were followed for a minimum of 3 months to assess the clinical outcome of procedure.Results: Female to male ratio was 7 : 1. All females were house wives exposed to manual work. Four of them had rheumatoid arthritis. The age range was from 30-50 years with mean age of 38 years. The results of surgical treatment were excellent with 90% patients being completely relieved of symptoms.Conclusion: Surgical release of carpal tunnel has excellent results in patients who do not respond to conservative treatment.