Table. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS FROM STUDIES THAT MEASURED WORK OUTCOMES AFTER CARPAL TUNNEL RELEASE SURGERY.
| Study | Numbers of subjects |
Numbers of hands |
Diagnosis | Surgical procedure |
Days absence reported |
Type of employment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vogt, 2002 | 43 | 50 | Clinical and EMGs | Endoscopic | Self-employed: 4.3 days Employed: 19 days |
|
| Natahn, 1993 | Short incision vs. standard incision, open CTS release | Compensation: 21 days Non-compensations; 10 days |
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| Bitar, 2002 | 123 | Open CTS release | USA Workers’ compensation: 72 days USA Workers’ non-compensated: 56 days National Insurance Swedish Group: 36 days |
University employees USA and Sweden | ||
| Wang, 2003 | 20 | 40 | Bilateral open CTS release | Mean 2.6 weeks | ||
| Chaise, 2004 | 233 | Independent workers: 17 days Private sector workers: 35 days Civil servants: 56 days Workers compensation: 49 days |
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| Acharya, 2005 | 75 | 112 | Open CTS release | 17 days | ||
| Gimeno, 2005 | 122 | Clinical CTS and EMGs | CTS release | High job strain (high demands & poor control) delayed successful RTW | ||
| Schmelzer, 2005 | 486 | 753 | Clinical CTS 472/486 had EMGs | Uniportal endoscopic | Light duty: 21 days (compensation and non-compensation) Full duty: 43 days (compensation and non-compensation) |
122 Labourer 364 Non Labourer 61 unemployed 48 retired |
| Kahraman, 2006 | 27 | 30 | Biportal endoscopic | 12 days | Military workers | |
| Nesbitt, 2006 | 71 | BILATERAL 142 hands | Clinical bilateral CTS | Endoscopic simultaneously, phased 1-3 weeks or phased > 3 weeks (patient choice) | 2.6 weeks 8.5 weeks 6 weeks |
|
| Pomerance, 2007 | 150 | Open decompression | Insured workers delayed vs. non-insured. No benefit of 2 weeks intensive rehabilitation | |||
| Tian, 2007 | 62 | 70 | Open vs endoscopic (RCT) | Endoscopic group returned to work more quickly | ||
| De Kesel, 2008 | 88 | 107 | Clinical and EMGs when required | Open decompression or one-incision endoscopic | Self-employed: 23 days Employee: 36 days Heavy manual handling: 42 days vs. light manual 36 vs. non-manual 27 |
|
| Wyatt, 2008* | 187 | 281 | Clinical and EMGs | Open decompression (intensive early rehabilitation) | Light duties 11 days Full duties 28 days |
Lamb freezing workers (NZ) |
| Hansen, 2009 | 75 | 75 | Abnormal EMGs | Endoscopic | Mean 19.8 days | |
| Mallick, 2009 | 494 | Clinical CTS with EMGs as required | Open Decompression (intensive Nurse F/Up) | 93% within 2 weeks 99% within 4 weeks |
191 Manual 81 Non-manual 46 Secretarial |
|
| Parot-Schinkel, 2011 | 851 | Received CTS surgery | Mini-open surgery | Median 60 days | ||
| Cowan, 2012 | 65 | Limited incision open release | Modified duty: 11.8 days Full duties: 18.9 days |
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| Kohanzadeh, 2012 | Meta-analysis | Endoscopic (2382) vs. open (110) | Endoscopic: 15.3 days Open: 21.8 days |