Does diabetes mellitus change the carpal tunnel release outcomes? Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Study design: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most common upper extremity conditions which mostly affect women. Management of patients suffering from both CTS and diabetes mellitus (DM) is challenging, and it was suggested that DM might affect the diagnosis as well as the outcome of surgical treatment.

Purpose of the study: This meta-analysis was aimed to compare the response with CTS surgical treatment in diabetic and nondiabetic patients.

Methods: Electronic databases were searched to identify eligible studies comparing the symptomatic, functional, and neurophysiological outcomes between diabetic and nondiabetic patients with CTS. Pooled MDs with 95% CIs were applied to assess the level of outcome improvements.

Results: Ten articles with 2869 subjects were included. The sensory conduction velocities in the wrist-palm and wrist-middle finger segments showed a significantly better improvement in nondiabetic compared with diabetic patients (MD = -4.31, 95% CI = -5.89 to -2.74, P < .001 and MD = -2.74, 95% CI = -5.32 to -0.16, P = .037, respectively). However, no significant differences were found for the improvement of symptoms severity and functional status based on the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire and Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire as well as motor conduction velocities and distal motor latencies.

Conclusion: Metaresults revealed no significant difference in improvements of all various outcomes except sensory conduction velocities after CTS surgery between diabetic and nondiabetic patients. A better diabetic neuropathy care is recommended to achieve better sensory recovery after CTS surgery in diabetic patients.

Keywords: Carpal tunnel syndrome; Diabetes mellitus; Meta-analysis; Outcome; Surgery.