A proposal for the application of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome evaluation method using surface electromyography: A pilot study Propozycja metody oceny zespołu kanału nadgarstka z wykorzysta niem elektromiografii powierzchniowej - badanie pilotaŜowe

Background: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), frequently considered to be an occupational disease, is difficult to diagnose because of the many additional factors which may mask its real symptoms. A significant part of differential diagnosis is to find a method that is adequately sensitive and noninvasive. Aim: Evaluation of selected muscles' bioelectrical activity in order to attain preliminary guidelines in a differential diagnosis of CTS. Material and Method: 30 patients with CTS after surgical carpal tunnel release and 15 healthy controls were examined. Thebioelectri+ cal activity of the cervical paraspinal muscles, sternocleidomastoideus, flexores carpi radialis and extensors carpi radialis longus were measured during cervical functional tests, and during a fatigue test for flexores carpi radialis and extensors carpi radialis longus. Results: In the cervical sequence test the correct asymmetrical activity pattern was observed in the control group during cervical rota+ tion and cervical flexion both in the sternocleidomastoideus and cervical paraspinal muscles. In CTS patients no significant difference (p>0,05) between the right and left sternocleidomastoideus was observed in cervical rotation and cervical flexion. In cervical paraspi+ nal there was no significant difference during rotation, but during the flexion activity of the right and left side muscles there was noted significant difference, though less than in the control group. After the fatigue test there was observed a significant increase in the CTS group and a significant decrease in the control group in extensors carpi radialis activity. Conclusion: Even if we are unable to unambiguously diagnose CTS symptoms using sEMG, the increased resting extensors carpi ra+ dialis bioelectrical activity observed after a fatigue test in CTS patients, yet decreased in the control group, allows us to suggest that the evaluation of muscles fatigue using sEMG is an appropriate method in the evaluation of muscle bioelectrical activity disorders.