1.Two-port Endoscopic Surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – A Prospective Cohort Study
Nguyen TT ; Duong K ; Tran SQ ; Dang KD ; Ly HHV ; Nguyen BTT
Malaysian Orthopaedic Journal 2022;16(No.2):55-62
Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the
most common peripheral neuropathies affecting patients'
life. Performing endoscopic carpal tunnel release is now a
new technique that is being gradually applied in Vietnam.
This paper seeks to investigate the effectiveness of Chow’s
method for CTS treatment.
Materials and methods: This is a prospective cohort study
involving seventy-seven patients with CTS who underwent
Chow’s endoscopic method at our hospital from March 2019
to January 2020. The Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire
and electromyography (EMG) were used primarily to
evaluate surgical decompression pre-operatively, one week,
three weeks, three months, and six months after surgery. We
also recorded incision length, pain at the scar, the
improvement of symptoms and thenar atrophy and return-towork time after surgery.
Results: A total of 85.7% of the patients were women. A
moderate severity of EMG was seen in 64.9% of cases. Sixmonth post-operative functional status scale (FSS)
(1.05±0.1) and symptom severity scale (SSS) (1.05±0.1)
showed significant improvement when compared with preoperative FSS (2.8±0.5) and SSS (3.2±0.5). Post-operative
EMG showed the distal sensory latency (DSL) and distal
motor latency (DML) had returned to the norm in 88% and
89.3%, respectively. The average incision length was
12.1±1.2mm. Six months after surgery, numbness and hand
pain had resolved in 97.4%, a painless scar was seen in
94.7%, but full recovery of thenar atrophy was only seen in
9.1%. Patients could get back to work after 10.2±2.4 days.
Conclusion: Chow’s endoscopic carpal tunnel release is a
safe and effective procedure for patients suffering from
carpal tunnel syndrome that showed promising outcomes on
clinical symptoms and functions on EMG with minimal pain
and scarring, and early return to work.