Recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome after surgical release

Authors

  • Luis Felipe Kling Hand Surgeon. Coordinator of the Hand Surgery Service, Clínica de la Universidad de La Sabana. Chía, Colombia. | Lecturer in Hand Surgery, Clínica de la Universidad de La Sabana. Chía, Colombia.
  • Ramón de Bedout Hand Surgeon. Head of the Hand Surgery and Microsurgery Section, Fundación Santafé de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia. | Lecturer in Hand Surgery, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.

Keywords:

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Recurrence

Abstract

Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most frequently seeing pathologies in a hand surgery service. It is defined as median nerve compression toward the fibrous osseous carpal tunnel, which may produce work and daily life disability for the patients themselves. The aim of this study was to determine the recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome after a surgical release of it.

Methods: We performed a transversal cohort study by a phone interview with all patients who received a carpal tunnel surgical release at Fundación Santafé de Bogotá between September 2003 and March 2010. Afterwards, we did describe recurrence rates, population characteristics and presented complications.

Results: 244 patients were introduced into the cohort with a main proportion of women (86.1%). There was a slight difference on laterality of the surgical procedure (62.7% were right hands). Most commonly used surgical technique was an open release with a further surgical repair of the carpal transverse ligament (45.1%). Recurrence for carpal tunnel syndrome was 5.3% (13 patients). Most of the patients were satisfied with the surgery and agree to recommend the surgical carpal tunnel release to others.

Discussion: High recurrence rates in carpal tunnel release surgery are often associated with high misdiagnosis rates of carpal tunnel syndrome. Therefore, a low rate recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome after a surgical release is a good telltale for an accurate diagnostic approach on this pathology.

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Published

2011-08-05

How to Cite

1.
Kling LF, de Bedout R. Recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome after surgical release. Rev. Colomb. Ortop. Traumatol. [Internet]. 2011 Aug. 5 [cited 2026 Mar. 19];25(3):285-90. Available from: https://revistasccotorg.biteca.online/index.php/rccot/article/view/723

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 3 (2011)

Section

Original research

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Sociedad Colombiana de Ortopedia y Traumatología

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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