Rodríguez Patrícia, Casado Aroa, Ciurana Neus, García Marcel, Pastor Francisco, Potau Josep Maria
Unit of Human Anatomy and Embryology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Am J Primatol. 2025 Jan;87(1):e23700. doi: 10.1002/ajp.23700. Epub 2024 Nov 20.
To explore the anatomical factors potentially involved in the high incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome in humans, we have quantified the anatomical variations of the carpal tunnel and its inner structures in humans, non-hominoid primates (monkeys), and hominoid primates (apes). In specimens of six humans, eight monkeys, and three apes, we assessed the size of the carpal tunnel, the tendons of the digit flexor muscles, and the median nerve. We compared the size of the carpal tunnel normalized by the wrist size, and the size of the median nerve and the tendons of the digit flexors normalized by the size of the carpal tunnel. Differences between humans and monkeys were calculated using the T test or Mann-Whitney U test, as appropriate. Data on the apes were not included in the statistical analyses due to the small sample size. The normalized size of the carpal tunnel was similar in all specimens. The normalized size of the tendons of the digit flexors was smaller in humans, while that of the median nerve was significantly larger. The median nerve was also larger in apes than in monkeys. The relatively larger median nerve observed in humans could suggest a greater vulnerability of the nerve to compression, which could predispose humans to carpal tunnel syndrome. However, the tendons of the digit flexor muscles were smaller in humans, and moreover, the proportional size of the median nerve was similar in apes, leading us to suggest that the factors predisposing humans to carpal tunnel syndrome must be sought beyond anatomical features and may be more closely related to functional or personal parameters.
为探究可能与人类腕管综合征高发病率相关的解剖学因素，我们已对人类、非类人猿灵长类动物（猴子）和类人猿灵长类动物（猿）的腕管及其内部结构的解剖学变异进行了量化。在六例人类、八只猴子和三只猿的标本中，我们评估了腕管的大小、指屈肌肌腱和正中神经。我们比较了经腕部大小标准化后的腕管大小，以及经腕管大小标准化后的正中神经和指屈肌肌腱的大小。根据情况，使用T检验或曼-惠特尼U检验计算人类与猴子之间的差异。由于样本量小，猿的数据未纳入统计分析。所有标本中腕管的标准化大小相似。人类指屈肌肌腱的标准化大小较小，而正中神经的标准化大小则显著较大。猿的正中神经也比猴子的大。在人类中观察到的相对较大的正中神经可能表明该神经更容易受到压迫，这可能使人类易患腕管综合征。然而，人类的指屈肌肌腱较小，此外，猿的正中神经比例大小相似，这使我们认为，使人类易患腕管综合征的因素必须从解剖学特征之外寻找，可能与功能或个人参数更密切相关。
