A 57-year-old female presented with a history of a progressively enlarging palmar mass over three years, with associated numbness over the median nerve distribution and difficulty in gripping due to dimensions of the mass. Physical examination revealed a 4 x 5 cm, movable, non-tender mass over the thenar eminence and a 2 x 1 cm movable, non-tender mass over the center of the palm. Tinel’s sign was positive over the mass and the carpal tunnel.

Excision of the mass was performed under intravenous regional anesthesia. A curvilinear incision made from the thenar crease distally to the midline of the wrist overlying the carpal tunnel, proximally. Dissection was carried down to the transverse carpal ligament which was transected to allow visualization of the mass and its attachment to the median nerve.

The mass described in this present case report shares characteristics from cases in previously published literature. Its gross appearance was highly indicative of a lipoma and its close relationship with the median nerve suggested an epineural origin. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a well-defined lesion, suggesting a mass that was more likely to be excised, potentially leading to better neurologic outcomes.

Intraneural lipomas (within the epineurium) are rare soft-tissue tumors that predominantly occur in the hand and forearm. Most cases reported involve the median nerve, followed by the radial nerve, posterior interosseus nerve and more rarely the brachial plexus. Compression of peripheral nerves by benign adipose tumors is infrequently reported in literature, with most publications restricted to case reports or series of a few patients. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first article describing an intraneural lipoma in the Filipino population.

Humans ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/surgery* ; Amyloidosis ; Joint Diseases

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of self-made arthroscopic single channel in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. METHODS: Sixty patients with primary carpal tunnel syndrome treated from January 2014 to December 2019 were divided into arthroscopic group and traditional open operation group. There were 30 cases in arthroscopic group, including 12 males and 18 females, aged (47.5±4.5) years and the course of disease was (6.6±4.2) months. There were 30 cases in the traditional operation group, including 10 males and 20 females, aged (48.5±3.5) years, and the course of disease was (5.6±4.4) months. Both groups were unilateral. According to the anatomy of wrist joint and the characteristics of transverse carpal ligament and arthroscopy, the instruments including cannula, inner heart and hook knife were designed. The patients in two groups were treated with decompression of transverse carpal ligament using arthroscopy combined with self-made instruments and traditional open sergery. The incision length, operation time, intraoperative bleeding, hospitalization cost, hospitalization time and recovery time of the two groups were observed and compared. Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) score was used to evaluate the clinical efficacy of arthroscopy combined with self made instruments in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. RESULTS: Compared with the traditional group, the arthroscopic group had significant advantages in incision length, operation time, intraoperative bleeding and hospital stay, but the total cost of hospitalization was increased. The Boston score was significantly higher in the arthroscopic group than that in the traditional group at 1 month after operation, but not at 3 and 6 months after operation. CONCLUSION Arthroscopy combined with self-made instruments in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome is more reliable, minimally invasive and simplified than open surgery, but the patients should be clearly diagnosed and appropriately selected before operation to achieve satisfactory clinical effect.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome/surgery* ; Decompression, Surgical ; Female ; Humans ; Ligaments, Articular ; Male ; Treatment Outcome ; Wrist/surgery* ; Wrist Joint/surgery*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the safety of classic Acupotomy in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. METHODS: Twenty six adult specimens (15 males and 11 females), aged 60 to 95(82.54±6.94) years old, were selected from 10% formalin antiseptic fixation. There were 52 sides(two of them could not be tested). The study period was from November 2017 to May 2018. The specimens were collected from the body donation center of the school of basic medicine, Peking University. The operation of releasing the transverse carpal ligament on the human body specimen was simulated by the classic acupotomy, and the distance from the four points to the surrounding anatomical structure was measured to calculate the direct injury rate to the nerve and blood vessels, and the shortest distance between the acupotomy and the nerve and blood vessels was defined as ≥2 mm as safety. RESULTS: In the experimental operation, the direct injury rate of nerve and blood vessel was 14% and 12% respectively. There was significant difference in the rate of direct nerve injury between the four injection points (<0.05). There was no significant difference in the rate of direct vascular injury between the four injection points (>0.05). Among the four points, there was a statistically significant difference in the safety of nerves(<0.05), and the safety of point 1 and point 3 of radial injection was higher than that of point 2 and point 4 of ulnar injection(<0.05). There was significant difference in the safety of blood vessels between the four points(<0.05), and the safety of radial point 1 was higher than that of ulnar point 2 and point 4 (<0.05). CONCLUSION The safety of the classic Acupotomy for carpal tunnel syndrome is related to the location of the needle entry point, and the safety of theradial proximal end of the needle is the highest.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Female ; Humans ; Ligaments, Articular ; Male ; Median Nerve ; injuries ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Wrist Joint

OBJECTIVE: To explore the application and clinical effect of wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet technique in the surgery of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. METHODS: From March 2016 to August 2018, 20 patients (40 sides) with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome were treated by wide awake technique. All patients were female, aged from 32 to 56 (50.8±6.4) years old. The anesthetic, intraoperative and postoperative pain and anxiety were evaluated, operative field bleeding in operation were assessed, postoperative skin healing of surgical area and anesthetic complications were observed, and Kelly grading were used to evaluate recovery of function. RESULTS: Twenty patients were followed up from 6 to 9 months with an average of 7.8 months. There was light anxiety before injection (NRS score rangedfrom 1 to 3), slight pain occurred during injection on the first poke (NRS ranged from 2 to 3);no pain and anxiety during operation (NRS score was 0);mild or moderate pain (NRS score ranged from 1 to 6) without anxiety(NRS score was 0) after operation was occurred. Surgical skin healed well at the stageⅠwithout side effect of anesthetic. At final follow-up, according to Kelly grading, 30 sides got excellent results, 8 sides good and 2 sides fair. CONCLUSION Wide awake technique is safe and effective in treating neurolysis of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, and could receive good clinical effects.
Adult ; Anesthesia, Local ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pain, Postoperative ; Wakefulness

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of infrared thermography in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome by comparing with electrodiagnostic and ultrasonographic findings.METHOD: From January 2014 to October 2017, electrodiagnosis, ultrasound, and digital infrared thermal image (DITI) of unilateral carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosed in a single hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The subjects with bilateral symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, fibromyalgia, rheumatic disease, systemic infection, inflammation, malignant tumor, and other musculoskeletal disorders such as finger osteoarthritis, peripheral neuropathy, cervical radiculopathy, and the previous history of surgery were excluded.RESULTS: Of 53 patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, 11 were male and 42 were female. The visual analogue scale was 4.9 ± 1.9, and the duration of symptom was 11.8 ± 12.5 months. There was no statistically significant difference in the body surface temperature between the unaffected and affected sides. The severity of symptoms, electrodiagnostic findings, and cross-sectional area of the median nerve significantly correlates to each other. The temperature difference between the second fingers of the affected and unaffected sides showed a weak correlation with the amplitude of sensory nerve action potential and onset latency of compound muscle action potential, when there was no significant correlation with the other parameters.CONCLUSION: The difference in temperature on the surface of the body, which can be confirmed by DITI, is little diagnostic value when DITI is performed in unilateral carpal tunnel syndrome patients, especially when compared with ultrasonography.
Action Potentials ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Electrodiagnosis ; Female ; Fibromyalgia ; Fingers ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Male ; Median Nerve ; Methods ; Osteoarthritis ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Peripheral Vascular Diseases ; Radiculopathy ; Retrospective Studies ; Rheumatic Diseases ; Thermography ; Thyroid Diseases ; Ultrasonography

Carpal tunnel syndrome can be produced by abnormal mass effect due to trauma, ganglion cysts, various soft tissue tumors, musculotendinous variants, and aberrant vascular structures. Persistent median artery is one of the causes of the carpal tunnel syndrome. Thrombosed persistent median artery usually accompanies the anomaly of the median nerve and causes a sudden onset of severe pain and paresthesia. In contrast to previous literature, we report the rare case of gradual onset and mild symptom of a 53-year-old man with a thrombosed persistent median artery but without anomaly of the median nerve and abnormal finding of electrophysiologic study.
Arteries ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Dilatation ; Ganglion Cysts ; Humans ; Median Nerve ; Middle Aged ; Paresthesia ; Ultrasonography

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) caused by pseudogout is an uncommon disease. The authors report a 65-year-old female who complained of sudden pain and neurological symptoms on her left hand. Surgical decompression was performed. In the histologic study, a calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposit was confirmed. Her pain and neurological symptoms were relieved. Because CTS caused by pseudogout is rare, it is difficult to differentiate it from other diseases. This paper reports an uncommon case of CTS caused by pseudogout.
Aged ; Calcium Pyrophosphate ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Chondrocalcinosis ; Decompression, Surgical ; Female ; Hand ; Humans ; Median Nerve

Carpal tunnel syndrome is rare in children. When it does occur in children, the most common causes reported are mucopolysaccharidosis and mucolipidosis. The median artery is a transitory vessel that develops from the axillary artery in early embryonic life and does not normally survive until postfetal life. In a small percentage of individuals, however, it persists into adulthood and is frequently accompanied by a bifid median nerve. A persistent median artery can be a cause of carpal tunnel syndrome in adults, but it is extremely rare in children and adolescents. This paper reports a case of a carpal tunnel syndrome caused by a persistent median artery and bifid median nerve in a 13-year-old girl.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Arteries ; Axillary Artery ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Median Nerve ; Mucolipidoses ; Mucopolysaccharidoses

Arterial variations in upper limbs are often reported commonly. Superficial arterial variations accounting for 4.2% of all arterial variations are hazardous during any invasive procedures of the upper limb, from routine intravenous injections to surgeries. Arterial variations are usually associated with inverted or absent palmaris longus. Palmaris profundus, a rare anomalous variation of palmaris longus has been reported in carpal tunnel syndrome as its tendon was associated with median nerve in the carpal tunnel. The authors reported a unique variation in the upper limb arterial pattern—the presence of bilateral superficial brachioulnar artery associated with unilateral palmaris profundus muscle and an abnormal radicle of musculocutaneous nerve to the median nerve in the left side.
Arteries ; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; Injections, Intravenous ; Median Nerve ; Musculocutaneous Nerve ; Tendons ; Upper Extremity