The bilaterality of idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome among manual workers

• Authors: Magdalena Lewańska

Abstracts

EN

ObjectivesTo evaluate: a) the prevalence of bilateral idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in manual workers; b) a correlation between the duration of unilateral and bilateral CTS symptoms; c) a correlation between the onset of CTS symptoms in the unilateral dominant/non-dominant hand and the time of developing bilateral CTS; and d) findings of the nerve conduction study (NCS) in symptomatic and asymptomatic hands of patients with unilateral CTS.Material and MethodsClinical and neurophysiological examinations were conducted along with a detailed analysis of job exposure of 332 manual workers admitted to the Occupational Medicine Department, the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, with suspected occupational CTS. Eventually, 258 patients were excluded from the study: 34 with associated neuropathies and 206 with other conditions potentially associated with CTS. Cases with work-related CTS (18) were also excluded.ResultsA total of 74 patients were diagnosed as idiopathic CTS. In idiopathic CTS, the right hand was affected in 15 (20.3%) patients, the left hand in 4 (5.4%) patients, and both hands in 55 (74.3%) patients. Symptoms duration was longer in the patients with bilateral CTS (4.01 years) than in those with a unilateral right (1.7 years, p = 0.002) or left hand condition (2.8 years, p = 0.313). Median nerve impairment at the wrist was revealed by NCS in 6 left and 2 right asymptomatic hands.ConclusionsThe findings of the study indicate the need for “alerting” patients with unilateral CTS about the risk of the disease developing in the contralateral hand. Therefore, NCS should be routinely performed in the asymptomatic hands of patients with unilateral CTS, which is essential for the prevention of neuropathies, especially among manual workers performing repetitive manual tasks.

Keywords

EN

syndrome; CTS; idiopathic; tunnel; carpal; bilaterality

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 151-161

Dates

published

2020

Contributors

author

Magdalena Lewańska

• Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland (Department of Occupational Diseases and Environmental Health)

Identifiers

DOI

10.13075/ijomeh.1896.01517

Biblioteka Nauki

2116642