Patient Education: Medical LinksHow is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Best Treated?Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is due to pressure on the Median nerve secondary to swollen tissue in the wrist. This pressure results in loss of grip, pain, tingling and numbness in the hand. One of the more bothersome symptoms will be night pain and numbness, which can often prevent a full nights sleep. Mild carpal tunnel cases may be treated with anti-inflammatory medications, night braces and cortisone injections. For cases not responding to those methods or more severe cases the pressure on the Median nerve may need to be with surgical methods. The three techniques of surgical repair of carpal tunnel syndrome are open incision, endoscopic and MIS (minimally invasive surgery). All three techniques provide good relief of the hand and wrist symptoms. Minimally invasive surgery has a number of advantages. The MIS surgery can be performed under strictly local anesthesia requiring no sedation or other medications. When only local anesthesia is utilized the patient may drive themselves to and from the surgery similar to mare minor dental procedures. Also, with the MIS technique it is often possible to return to work the same or next day. The incision in the skin for the MIS carpal tunnel release is small therefore resulting in less pain than other techniques. All techniques of carpal tunnel release are successful and have a very low recurrence rate. For information on MIS Carpal Tunnel Surgery please contact our office.
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