The Effect of Cervical Radiculopathy on the Outcome of Carpal Tunnel Release in a Patient with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to elucidate the incidence of cervical radiculopathy among patients who have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and to evaluate the outcome of carpal tunnel release (CTR) in CTS patients with clinically diagnosed cervical radiculopathy. Methods: Eighty-five patients who underwent CTR for their electrophysiologically and ultrasonographically diagnosed CTS from January 2013 to July 2015 were evaluated according to the presence of cervical radiculopathy or any condition proven by a radiological assessment of the cervical region. The outcome of CTR was graded from 1 to 4 by the degree of pain relief and evaluated according to clinical factors including cervical radiculopathy. Results: CTR was shown to be effective in 70 (82.4%) patients, whereas 14 (16.5%) were categorized as a non-effective group. The outcome of CTR was significantly different in the presence of ipsilateral cervical radiculopathy, which was documented by an electrophysiological assessment (p=0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the outcome of CTR between patients with normal and abnormal findings in the cervical region in the radiological assessments. Conclusion: CTR seemed less effective for the patients who had cervical radiculopathy. An electrophysiological study to identify cervical radiculopathy before performing a CTR is necessary to increase the success rate of the treatment by selecting the most appropriate patients.