Many people who work with their hands experience numbness and tingling in their fingers called carpal tunnel syndrome. The carpal tunnel is the anatomic passageway on the inside of the wrist connecting the forearm with the palm. Several tendons controlling the hand and the median nerve pass through it.
Carpal Tunnel Surgery
The median nerve supplies the sensation to the thumb and first two fingers. Because the carpal tunnel is extremely narrow and cannot expand, any localized swelling puts pressure on the median nerve, leading to weakness and numbness in the hand. This can be irritating at best, and disabling at worst. Surgery is often the only method to alleviate this condition.
How It’s Done
The surgeon makes an incision from the base of the palm to the wrist, releasing constricted swollen tissues underneath. The surgeon may instead use a flexible surgical endoscope through a smaller incision on the wrist to achieve the same result. The procedure often takes only a few minutes, with the patient put under a local anesthetic or a nerve block with sedation.
What To Expect
Patients may return home the same day and may experience minimal discomfort that is easily controlled with oral medication. Although the symptoms are relieved immediately following surgery, full recovery from carpal tunnel syndrome can take months. Physical therapy after surgery to restore wrist strength is required and the vast majority of patients recover completely.
We provide detailed preoperative and postoperative instructions at Western Surgery Centre.
Additional Information
Our goal is to provide you with the information required to ease the decision-making process.
We strongly encourage you to research the operation thoroughly. Here are some useful links to help you: