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CC BY 4.0 · Rev Bras Ortop (Sao Paulo) 2024; 59(01): e54-e59
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1779318
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Usefulness of the Phalen Test and the Tinel Sign in the Prognosis and the Impact on Quality of Life of Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Undergoing Classical Open Carpal Tunnel Release*

Article in several languages: português | English
Isabelle Spirandelli Pimentel 
1   Faculdade de Medicina de Petrópolis, Centro Universitário Arthur Sá Earp Neto (Unifase), Petrópolis, RJ, Brasil
,
Victor Spirandelli Pimentel 
2   Departamento de Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo (ISCMSP), São Paulo, SP, Brasil
,
Flavio Faloppa 
3   Departamento de Ortopedia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brasil
,
João Carlos Belloti 
3   Departamento de Ortopedia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brasil
,
Marcel Jun Sugawara Tamaoki 
3   Departamento de Ortopedia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brasil
,
Benedito Felipe Rabay Pimentel 
4   Serviço de Ortopedia e Traumatologia, Hospital Municipal Universitário de Taubaté (HMUT), Taubaté, SP, Brasil
5   Hospital Regional do Vale do Paraíba (HRVP), Complexo Hospitalar do Vale do Paraíba, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Taubaté (Unitau), Taubaté, SP, Brasil
› Author Affiliations Financial Support The present research did not receive any specific funding from agencies in the public, commercial or non-profit sectors.
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Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of the Phalen test and the Tinel sign in the prognosis and the impact on quality of life in the clinical course of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome undergoing surgical treatment through the traditional open approach.

Methods: The present is a cohort study on prognosis. We included 115 patients with high probability of receiving a clinical diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome with indication for surgical treatment. All patients underwent the Phalen test and Tinel sign and answered the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire before and after the surgical treatment.

Results: The estimates for the probability of the time until remission of the Phalen test at 2, 4 and 16 weeks postoperatively were of 3.54% (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.16%–8.17%), 0.88% (95%CI: 0.08%–4.38%) and 0.88% (95%CI: 0.08% to 4.38%) respectively, and, for the Tinel sign, they were of 12.39% (95%CI: 7.13%–19.18% ), 4.42% (95%CI : 1.65%–9.36%) and 2.65% (95%CI : 0.70%–6.94%) respectively. There was a reduction in the postoperative score on the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire of 1.8 points for symptom severity (p < 0.001) and of 1.6 points for functional status (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Phalen test remission was earlier than that of the Tinel sign, but, when performed as of the second postoperative week, they were prognostic factors favorable to the clinical course, with improved quality of life.

Keywords

carpal tunnel syndrome - prognostic factor - quality of life - clinical course

* Work developed at the Hospital Regional do Vale do Paraíba (HRVP), Complexo Hospitalar do Vale do Paraíba, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Taubaté (Unitau), Taubaté, SP, Brazil.




Publication History

Received: 30 November 2022

Accepted: 26 June 2023

Article published online:
21 March 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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