Relationships between clinical symptoms and electrodiagnosis in carpal tunnel syndrome.
Resource
Taiwan Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,32,117-124.
Journal
中華心理學刊
Pages
117-124
Date Issued
2004-04
Date
2004-04
Author(s)
Chao, PY
Lin, HL
Pan, SL
Chang, CW
Abstract
Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most common peripheral entrapment neuropathies. Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome experience numbness, pain, and/or weakness in the hands over the median nerve distribution area. In current practice, diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome is based on subjective symptoms and objective findings from physical examinations and electrodiagnosis. We examined 40 hands with carpal tunnel syndrome in 24 patients and evaluated the relation between symptom severity and electrodiagnosis. Subjective hand symptoms were obtained by self-administered questionnaire and were categorized as numbness, pain, or motor function according to factor analysis methods. Numbness symptoms were significantly related to electrodiagnosis findings of neurophysiological grading and sensory conduction velocity. The severity of numbness symptoms correlated with the abnormality of the electrodiagnosis results. Pain and motor function symptoms were not significantly associated with electrodiagnosis results. However, a nonsignificant inverse relation existed between pain severity and abnormality of electrodiagnosis results.Our findings suggest a need to identify different components of hand symptoms in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. Based on electrodiagnosis and symptom component analysis, a more accurate clinical estimate of disease severity can be obtained in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
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