Chonnam Med J.  2003 Jun;39(2):112-116.

Clinical Correlation between Subjective Symptoms, Physical Findings and Electrophysiologic Severity of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

• Ju SR
• Han JY
• Lee SY
• Choi IS
• Kim JH
• Lee SG
• Rowe SM
• Oh MS
• Park SJ

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), compression of the median nerve as it passes through the wrist, is the most common entrapment syndrome of upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between clinical findings (symptoms and physical findings) and the electrophysiologic severity of CTS by Bland classification. We evaluated the clinical findings for 382 hands and electrophysiologic examination for 3 years. The results were as follows: 1) The most common symptom was tingling sensation and sensory loss (94%). 2) The most common physical finding was muscle weakness or atrophy of the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) (71%). 3) The frequency of symptoms and physical findings obtained were significantly correlated with electrophysiologic severity of CTS groups (p<0.05). In conclusion, these results indicated that a positive correlation existed between the frequency of clinical findings and electrophysiologic severity of CTS.

Keyword

Clinical symptom; Electrophysiologic test; Carpal tunnel syndrome

MeSH Terms

Atrophy
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome*
Classification
Hand
Median Nerve
Muscle Weakness
Sensation
Upper Extremity
Wrist