Clinical Investigation

Comparision of Clinical and Electrophysiological Staging in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

  • Tugba TUNÇ
  • Gülnihal KUTLU
  • Özlem COSKUN
  • Emine Esra OKUYUCU
  • Leyla ÇAVDAR
  • Levent Ertugrul INAN

Meandros Med Dent J 2006;7(2):23-26

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the clinical and electrophysiological stages in patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Material and methods: One hundered twentyeight hands (90 patients) with carpal tunnel syndrome were investigated. Patients were staged clinically and electrophysiologically. The relationship between these stages was investigated. Diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome was made according to the presence of paresthesia, pain in the innervation area of the median nerve, weakness and atrophy in the median nerve innervated muscles, positive Phalen and Tinnel tests. Results: A significant correlation was found between clinical and electrophysiological staging of patients. The electrophysiological findings were more severe as the clinical stage progressed. Conclusions: We suggest that although there may sometimes be a discordance between clinical and electrophysiological stages in clinical practice, the severity of the compression of the median nerve can usually be estimated by clinical examination.

Keywords: Carpal tunnel syndrome, median neuropathy, clinical scale, electrophysiologic scale