Clinical anatomical study on the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome with classic Acupotomy

OBJECTIVE To explore the safety of classic Acupotomy in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. METHODS Twenty six adult specimens (15 males and 11 females), aged 60 to 95(82.54±6.94) years old, were selected from 10% formalin antiseptic fixation. There were 52 sides(two of them could not be tested). The study period was from November 2017 to May 2018. The specimens were collected from the body donation center of the school of basic medicine, Peking University. The operation of releasing the transverse carpal ligament on the human body specimen was simulated by the classic acupotomy, and the distance from the four points to the surrounding anatomical structure was measured to calculate the direct injury rate to the nerve and blood vessels, and the shortest distance between the acupotomy and the nerve and blood vessels was defined as ≥2 mm as safety. RESULTS In the experimental operation, the direct injury rate of nerve and blood vessel was 14% and 12% respectively. There was significant difference in the rate of direct nerve injury between the four injection points (P 0.05). Among the four points, there was a statistically significant difference in the safety of nerves(P<0.05), and the safety of point 1 and point 3 of radial injection was higher than that of point 2 and point 4 of ulnar injection(P<0.05). There was significant difference in the safety of blood vessels between the four points(P<0.05), and the safety of radial point 1 was higher than that of ulnar point 2 and point 4 (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The safety of the classic Acupotomy for carpal tunnel syndrome is related to the location of the needle entry point, and the safety of theradial proximal end of the needle is the highest.