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Understanding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve passing through the carpal tunnel in the wrist is compressed, causing numbness, weakness, and pain. It develops from conditions that increase pressure in the tunnel such as repetitive wrist motions, fractures, arthritis, and tumors. The syndrome is most common in adults and usually affects the dominant hand first. Risk factors include metabolic disorders like diabetes which can damage nerves and make them more susceptible to compression.

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39 views4 pages

Understanding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve passing through the carpal tunnel in the wrist is compressed, causing numbness, weakness, and pain. It develops from conditions that increase pressure in the tunnel such as repetitive wrist motions, fractures, arthritis, and tumors. The syndrome is most common in adults and usually affects the dominant hand first. Risk factors include metabolic disorders like diabetes which can damage nerves and make them more susceptible to compression.

Uploaded by

Kit Eddy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Carpal tunnel syndrome

Students name

Lecturer

Date
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Pathophysiology

The carpal tunnel is a narrow passage found at the base of the wrist hand and it contains tendons

and median nerve. The syndrome occurs mainly when the median nerve is compressed. The

nerve runs from the forearm through the carpal tunnel into the hand. The nerve controls

sensations that are experienced on the palm side of fingers and the thumb as well as impulse

coordination to muscles of the hand thus allowing movement of fingers and the thumb (Aboonq,

2015).

The tunnel syndrome occurs as a result of various factors that lead to pressure increase on the

median nerve and tendons passing through the tunnel. This disorder is caused by several factors

including congenital predisposition since it is smaller in some individuals that others. Other

factors that contribute to the condition include trauma that leads to swelling, sprain, fracture,

endocrine over activity, mechanical issues with the wrist joints, and development of a cancerous

cell such as cyst or tumor in the tunnel (Schnetzler, 2008).


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The result of the condition may lead to weakness, pain or numbness of the affected wrist and

hand radiating up to the arm. Despite the fact that painful sensation may indicate other

conditions, the syndrome is the most common associated with entrapment neuropathies where

the bodys peripheral nerves are traumatized and compressed.

The condition only occurs in adults. The first part to be affected is the dominant hand and

produces severe pain. Persons with metabolic disorders such as diabetes affects the nerves

directly making them susceptible to compression are at risk of developing the condition.

Etiology

Causes of carpal tunnel syndrome include inflammatory causes such as rheumatoid arthritis &

wrist arthritis, post-traumatic causes such as bone thickening after a colles fracture, endocrine

causes such as acromegaly & myxoedema and idiopathic causes which is the main cause of the

syndrome (Kim et al., 2014).


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References

Aboonq, M. S. (2015) Pathophysiology of carpal tunnel syndrome., Neurosciences (Riyadh,

Saudi Arabia), 20(1), pp. 49.

Kim, P.-T. et al. (2014) Current Approaches for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Clinics in

Orthopedic Surgery, 6(3), p. 253. doi: 10.4055/cios.2014.6.3.253.

Schnetzler, K. a. (2008) Acute Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Journal of the American Academy of

Orthopaedic Surgeons, 16, pp. 276282. doi: 10.1001/jama.1963.03710040183054.

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