Surgical Treatment Results of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Patients with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most commonly seen peripheral nerve compression syndrome and CTS surgery is the most common surgery done for peripheral nerve compression syndromes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is a systemic disease with a component of peripheral neuropathy. Objective We aimed to investigate the effects of type 2 DM on functional results in type 2 DM patients who underwent carpal tunnel surgery. Methods The study included 39 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome which was confirmed by electromyography. Twenty-one patients did not have DM, 18 patients had type 2 DM that were treated for DM and had regulated blood glucose levels. Assessments were done with the Boston scale. All operations were done by the same surgical team using the same surgical technique. Functional and symptomatic scores between the two groups were compared with the Mann-Whitney U test which is the non-parametric version of the Student's t test, and 95% confidence interval p<0.05, which is considered as statistically significant. Results In patients with type 2 DM, preoperative mean Symptom Severity Score was 3.6 +/- 0.35 (2.9 to 4.2) in the last control mean Symptom Severity Score was 1.2 +/- 0.16(1.0-1.7), and preoperative mean functional status score was 3.3 +/- 0.56(2.3 to 4.5) and in the last control mean functional status score was 1.3 +/- 0.36 (1.0 to 2.4). The patients without DM, preoperative mean Symptom Severity Score was 3.5 +/- 0.45 (2.8 to 4.2) in the last control mean Symptom Severity Score was 1.2 +/- 0.19 (1.0 to 1.6), and preoperative functional status score was 3.2 +/- 0.47 (2.4 to 4.6) in the last control mean functional status score was 1.3 +/- 0.35 (1.0 to 2.5). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion Type 2 DM patients with regulated blood glucose levels can be operated without additional procedure during and after surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome like in carpal tunnel syndrome patients without DM.