• Mauro Mondelli, Luca Padua, Fabio Reale, Anna Maria Signorini, and Clara Romano.
• Electromyography Service, Siena, Italy. m.mondelli@us17.toscana.it
• Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004 Jan 1;85(1):7-13.

ObjectiveTo compare the results of surgical decompression of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in patients with diabetes with those of patients with idiopathic CTS.DesignProspective case series.SettingAmbulatory care in Italy.ParticipantsTwenty-four consecutive patients with diabetes type 1 or 2 and CTS (mean age, 66.7 y) were matched for age and sex with 72 patients (mean age, 66.2 y) with idiopathic CTS.InterventionsAll patients underwent surgical release of CTS by the mini-incision of palm technique.Main Outcome MeasuresClinical and electrophysiologic evaluation and patient self-administered Boston Questionnaire (BQ) for the assessment of severity of CTS symptoms and hand functional status before and 1 and 6 months after surgery.ResultsAfter surgical release, almost all patients of both groups reported an absence of pain, disappearance or reduction of paresthesia, and improvement in hand function. One month after surgery, there was a significant improvement in clinical status, BQ scores, and distal conduction velocities of the median nerve. A further improvement was evident at 6-month follow-up. There were no differences between the 2 groups in the number of surgical complications, in clinical and electrophysiologic status, or in BQ scores before and after surgery. The improvement in distal conduction velocities of the median nerve, BQ scores, and clinical and electrophysiologic status were similar in the 2 groups after surgery.ConclusionDiabetes is not a risk factor for poor outcome of surgical decompression of CTS. Patients with diabetes have the same probability of positive surgical outcome as patients with idiopathic CTS.

23 keywords...

hide…