Endoscopic treatment in carpal tunnel syndrome: a case study in Bucharest – Romania

Background. Carpal tunnel syndrome is currently the most common peripheral nerve compression neuropathy that affects approximately 1% of the population. The incidence of CTS seems to be increasing. The diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms and electrodiagnostic studies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of the endoscopic technique on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. In addition, we want to demonstrate if this condition occurs more in men than in women. Methods. In a group of 53 patients we used the endoscopic technique for the treatment of carpal syndrome, and as a measure of its effectiveness we used the Phalen, Durken and Tinel tests. Also, for the qualitative analysis of the data, the clinical and demographic characteristics of the patients were taken into account. Results. We identified statistically significant differences between men and women regarding the occurrence of carpal syndrome, women having significantly lower results than men in the Phalen, Durken and Tinel tests (X2Phalen(2) =17.33, X2Durken(2) =15.94, X2Tinel(2) =10.76, p<0.05). There are statistically significant differences between the results of the Phalen, Durken and Tinel tests before and after surgery (WPhalen=111.24, WDurken=139.91, WTinel=102.46, p<0.05).