Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common peripheral nerve entrapment syndrome. There were yet no comparison studies performed between pre-operative and follow-up sonoelastography results and the correlation with the associated subjective/objective functional outcomes.
From May 2017 to March 2020, 32 patients (34 hands) with carpal tunnel syndrome were enrolled in this prospective study. Demographic data, QuickDASH score (Chinese version), Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) (Chinese version), NCV/EMG and median nerve stiffness by sonoelastography were retrieved.
The comparison of pre-operative and average one-year post-operative sonoelastography showed significant decreasing stiffness. Vs (pre-operation): 4.63 m/s vs. Vs (post-operation) 3.33 m/s (P= 0.0011). The change of the subjective functional outcomes and objective neurophysiologic studies also presented the same significant trend. There was no statistically significant difference between patients with dialysis and without dialysis Vs (hemodialysis): 3.18 m/s vs. Vs (non-hemodialysis): 3.47 m/s, P=0.177) at follow-up.
The same trend of pre-operative and post-operative change of the median nerve stiffness and subjective questionnaires/objective neurophysiologic studies may imply the capacity of sonoelastography for the assessment of the response to surgery in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.