PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY210 © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd REVIEW

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common entrapment neu-ropathy encountered in electro-diagnostic laboratories. It is due to compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. From the number of electrophysiologically confi rmed cases in Canter-bury, UK, the annual incidence is 120 per 100 000 for women and 60 per 100 000 for men (Bland & Rudolfer 2003). The incidence rises with age in men, but peaks in the 45–54 age group in women. Population surveys reveal a prevalence of 0.6–2 % in men and up to 9 % in women (De Krom et al. 1992; Atroshi et al. 1999). How-ever, this sex ratio varies widely in the literature, from an excess of women of 23: 1 in Korea to 2: 1 in the UK. The relationship between carpal tunnel syndrome and work conditions is controversial. Early epidemiological studies pro-duced divergent results, perhaps because they were methodo-logically fl awed – the diagnoses were not supported by objectiv