The Relationship Between Clinical, Physical, Electrophysiological, Functional Findings and Body Mass Index in Patients with Idiopathic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Purpose: This study aims to research the relationship between clinical, physical, electrophysiological, functional findings and body mass index (BMI) in patients with idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Method: This study comprised 105 (48 bilateral, 9 unilateral) idiopathic CTS patients. Demographic and clinical findings and tinel, phalen, reverse phalen and carpal compression findings were evaluated and recorded. Patients with a BMI = 30 were evaluated as obese. Boston Symptom Severity and Functional Capacity Scale was applied to evaluate the patients' functions. The patients were staged according to clinical and electrophysiological examinations. Results: The mean age of the patients was 44.09 ± 10.97 years. While there was no statistically significant difference between electrophysiological staging and age, gender, functional capacity and symptom severity, there was a significant correlation between tinel test positivity and severe CTS and between the clinical stage and CTS. The symptom severity and functional capacity were significantly higher in the obese patient group than in the non-obese group. When the electro physiological characteristics of the obese and non-obese group were compared, the median nerve sensory amplitude of the obese group was significantly lower than the non-obese group. Conclusion: Patients with obese CTS have a higher rate of loss of function and symptoms of severity than non-obese patients and this shows the importance of weight control in the treatment of these patients. In cases where the severity of the clinically obtained severity and the electrophysiological severity are not proportional, we believe that a careful examination will provide information about the severity of the disease and also the effectiveness of the treatment and the follow-up of the patients. Again, we think that stimulant tests are important in the evaluation of the disease especially in the loss of function and severity symptoms and should be routinely included in our examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]