Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Highlights

Highlights

Treatment News:

• A recent study showed that wearing a 5% lidocaine patch every day relieved pain at least as well as an injection with combination lidocaine-steroids.
• Patients who get two steroid injections 8 weeks apart do not benefit from the second injection, according to a study published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice. The trial compared the benefits of two steroid injections to a single injection.
• A recently published review of patients who had endoscopic release procedures for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) questions the widely held belief that endoscopy carries a higher risk of complications. The analysis revealed very few complications. Ninety percent of the patients returned to their original line of work.
• A recent study published in the Journal of Hand Surgery found that patients with CTS who have the mini-open surgery recover faster than those who have traditional open release surgery. Mini-open surgery is less invasive than open release surgery.

Risk Factors:

• Weight appears to be strongly linked to the onset of CTS, although it may be less of a risk factor in older people.
• A 2005 study reported that an estimated 85% of patients with type 1 diabetes develop CTS.

Review Date: 04/01/2006
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital