A descriptive study of 972 consecutive cases of carpal tunnel release: role of ancillary procedures

Objectives: Carpal tunnel release is one of the most commonly performed operations in hand surgery. Carpal tunnel release is simply defined as division of transverse carpal ligament. Ancillary procedures such as neurolysis, mass removal, and synovectomy may be indicated in selected cases. The purpose of this study is to analyse the range and frequency of ancillary procedures in a series of open carpal tunnel releases. Methods: In this study, an analysis of 972 consecutive open carpal tunnel releases was performed in 694 patients to assess the frequency of required additional procedures. Operation notes of these patients were reviewed in terms of ancillary procedures to standard carpal tunnel release. Results: Fifty-six of 972 (5.76%) cases required an ancillary surgical intervention. Ganglia removal for 9 (0.92%), synovectomy for 8 (0.82%), internal neurolysis for 13 (1.33%), external neurolysis for 23 (2.36%), segmental neurectomy and nerve repair for 3 (0.3%) patients were performed. Conclusion: Additional procedures is advocated as adjuncts to the carpal ligament release, in an effort to decrease the failure rate after operation in indicated cases. [Hand Microsurg 2013; 2(1.000): 18-22