Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Incidence Trends and Efficacy of Splinting

One study explores incidence trends over a 25-year period; another compares hard and soft splinting.

These two studies focus on incidence and treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Gelfman and colleagues examined trends in incidence from 1981 to 2005 among residents of Olmstead County, Minnesota. The incidence of medically diagnosed CTS nearly doubled, from 258 per 100,000 person-years in the period 1981 to 1985 to 424 per 100,000 person-years in the period 2000 to 2005. Two trends were apparent: a marked increase in CTS incidence among young working-age individuals in the 1980s, followed by an increasing incidence of CTS among elders in the 1990s. In spite of the increased rate of diagnosis of CTS, the rate of carpal tunnel release decreased slightly from 1981 to 2000. The average rate of surgery in work-related cases was one tenth tha…

Reviewing Author

Meijuan Zhao, MD, David Ring, MD, PhD