Patient-reported symptom-mapping in carpal tunnel syndrome.

Introduction: To date, no method has been described or utilized to study the distribution of symptoms in carpal tunnel syndrome. We describe a technique of symptom-mapping that yields a population-based "anatomic profile" of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Methods: Symptoms were mapped on visual questionnaires depicting the volar hand, wrist, and forearm. Thirty-four hands in 26 patients with isolated carpal tunnel syndrome were included in the study.
Results: Painful symptoms were clearly centered over the carpal tunnel and were reported much less frequently in the digits. Nonpainful sensory disturbances (e.g., numbness, paresthesias) were found to have a much more peripheral and lateral distribution.
Discussion: Our technique serves to establish a population-based "anatomic profile" of carpal tunnel syndrome, assisting with clinical diagnosis and serving as a reference point for the comparison of pretreatment and posttreatment clinical data. Muscle Nerve 59:321-325, 2019.
(© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)