Effectiveness of home exercise in pregnant women with carpal tunnel syndrome (original) (raw)

2019, Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most common upper limb compression neuropathies. 1 It has a prevalence of 3.7% to 5.8% when diagnosed clinically and neuro-physiologically in the general population. 2 Risk factors commonly known for CTS include repeated use of the hand and wrist, aging, obesity, pregnancy, acromegaly, amyloidosis, diabetes mellitus, kidney diseases, trauma, osteoarthritis and thyroid diseases. 3 Women, especially middle-aged women, are more susceptible to CTS with a 70% incidence rate, and it is a common problem during pregnancy. 4 CTS in pregnancy is reportedly 63% in the third trimester, and about 47% have bilateral CTS. 5 The earliest symptom of CTS is hand numbness and / or tingling 6. These symptoms occur especially on the palmar face of the second finger and on the palmar face of the thumb and the radial face of the middle finger, the ring finger, and the index finger. These symptoms do not occur in palm. The reason for this is that the branches of the median nerve innervating the palms are separated before entering the tunnel. In CTS, paraesthesia develops early in the sleeping period, but develops later in the day. During the day, handmade activations (dishwashing, knitting) trigger paraesthesia and pain symptoms. 7 In patients with CTS, the result of median nerve compression in one or both wrists usually results in pain, tingling sensation, numbness and weakness that worsen at night, especially in the first three fingers. 8