prevalence and severity of carpal tunnel syndrome in women

background: carpal tunnel syndrome (cts) is entrapment of median nerve in carpal tunnel of the wrist. the prevalence of cts related to pregnancy and non-pregnancy is unknown in some countries such as iran. the main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cts in women of boyerahmad township located in south-west part of iran. methods: this cross-sectional descriptive analytic study was done since february 2010 to january 2011 in obstetrics and gynecology clinics in 2656 non-pregnant and 1508 pregnant women. the women that had clinical symptoms of cts performed standard electro diagnostic techniques for rule in or rule out of cts. results: the prevalence of cts in pregnant and non- pregnant women was 3.4and    2 .3 percent respectively. the prevalence of cts in all women was 2.7%. overall, 51 pregnant women had cts that 59.4% had mild, 18.8 % had moderate and 21.9% had severe cts. sixty-one non-pregnant women had cts that 73.6 %had mild, 20.8 %t had moderate and 5.6 % had severe cts. conclusion: although the prevalence of cts in iranian pregnancy is higher than non-pregnancy women conservative treatment is safe and more effective.