Carpal tunnel syndrome: a clinical and electrophysiological study of 220 consecutive cases at King Fahd hospital of the university, Al-Khobar

ABSTRACT

To study the clinical and electrophysiological profile of patients with clinically diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome [CTS] in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Neurology service at the King Fahd Hospital of the University [KFHU], Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Two hundred and twenty consecutive patients [181 female, 39 male, mean age 37 and 44 years respectively], referred with a clinical diagnosis of CTS to the neurodiagnostic laboratories of KFHU between August 1991 and August 1995, formed the study group. They all had clinical evaluation and standardized nerve conduction studies [390 hands] performed by the same examiner. A control group of 64 normal subjects [31 females, 33 males, mean age 37 and 43 years respectively] were concurrently studied. Carpal tunnel syndrome was confirmed in 265 hands [68%]. The mean distal sensory peak latency [DSL] in milliseconds [ms +/- standard deviation [SD] was 4.61 +/- 1.54 ms [227 hands, 58.2%]. The mean distal motor latency [DML] was 5.87 +/- 1.5 ms [195 hands, 50%]. In 38 hands [9.7%] no sensory responses were recordable. Of these 4 hands [1%] had no motor responses as well. Seventy four percent of the patients were below 45 years of age. The main presenting symptoms were numbness [88.7%], pain in the hands [69.8%] and weakness [35.5%]. Sixty percent of the patients presented to hospital within one year of onset of symptoms. The frequency of associated conditions was highest for diabetes mellitus in 13.1% of the patients. The clinical and electrophysiological patterns of CTS in Saudi Arabia are similar to those reported from developed countries