Is clinical evaluation sufficient enough to diagnose the cubital tunnel syndrome

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the diagnostic value of clinical history and neurological examination for cubital tunnel syndrome. Materials and Methods: 132 limbs of 128 patients treated with electromyography with a preliminary clinical diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome between the years of January 2009 and January 2016 were evaluated. Patients were evaluated according to gender, affected side and electromyography results to assess the presence of neuropathy. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by Kormogonov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test. Results: 70 patients (54%) were male and 58 (46%) were female and the average age was 40.25±12.66. The affected side was right extremity in 70 (53%) of cases and left extremity in 62 (47%) who underwent electromyography with a preliminary diagnosis of neuropathy. Symptoms were bilateral in 4 cases. As a result of electromyography 43 (32.6%) (27 male, 16 female) patients had neuropathy. Affected side in 23 of these patients (53.5%) was left limb and 20 (46.5%) was right limb and 30 of involved patients were in the range of 30-60 years. Conclusion: According to the results of our study, we found that history and neurological examination have a low efficiency in the diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome. This may be associated with relatively subjective evaluation of neurological examination and history and also many pathologies in the differential diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome. We believe that electromyelography application is required in addition to a detailed physical examination for cubital tunnel syndrome in order to avoid delayed diagnosis and incomplete/incorrect treatment.