Median Nerve Recovery after Carpal Tunnel Release

Objective: Reports of nerve conduction studies following treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome are uncommon. To better understand the improvement of median nerve after release of compression over wrist in carpal tunnel syndrome patients, we studied the recovery from preoperative to postoperative period using neurophysiological methods. Design: prospective, early postoperative intervals neurophysiological investigations Materials and methods: From March 1999 to March 2000, seventeen carpal tunnel syndrome patients received minimal invasive carpal tunnel release surgery in Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. We compared the data of median nerve motor and sensory distal latencies, motor nerve conduction velocity, amplitudes of motor and sensory action potentials between preoperative and postoperative period. Results: We found the following: (1) The preoperative motor latency, sensory distal latency, and sensory amplitude of the median nerve of the carpal tunnel syndrome patients showed significantly abnormal in comparison with those of the normal groups. (2) The minimal invasive carpal tunnel release produced constant good result in carpal tunnel syndrome patients. (3) The median motor latency significantly improved 4wk after minimal invasive carpal tunnel release, but it took at least 8 wk for the median motor latency recovery back to normal. (4) The median sensory latency and amplitude significantly improved and back to normal since 8 wk after the operation. Conclusions: Minimal invasive carpal tunnel release is a useful method in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. The recovery of the median motor and sensory on the electrophysiological point of views is not apparent until 8 wk after operation.