The management of carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnancy.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) after delivery and its relationship to individual factors.

STUDY DESIGN

A cohort of 46 pregnant women, aged 15-48 years, who had suffered from CTS during pregnancy and who had delivered at Aydin Maternity Hospital, Turkey was selected. They had been followed up through pregnancy and 12 months postpartum and filled out a questionnaire. The data were analysed statistically.

RESULTS

Follow up showed that CTS at 6 and 12 months post partum was reported by 10.9% and 4.3% of the women, respectively. The difference in prevalence of CTS between young women and older women was statistically significant (P= 0.005). The history of diabetes mellitus and infant birth weight were similar in the two groups. However, patient weight gain during pregnancy increased the risk of CTS (P= 0.000). On the other hand, there was no difference in the number of previous pregnancies between women with CTS and without CTS during pregnancy (P= 0.210). Furthermore, affected and unaffected groups required Caesarean section in nine and 248 patients during pregnancy, respectively.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that, in most pregnant patients with CTS, the symptoms are present in both hands and are first noted during the third trimester. The majority of patients with CTS obtain spontaneous relief in the immediate postpartum period.