Efficacy of Proximal Median Nerve Release

Carpal tunnel surgery is one of the most common surgeries in upper extremity. Most patients benefit from carpal tunnel surgery, but some patients complain weakness and pain symptoms after surgery. According to a case series by Özdemir et al. (2020), after carpal tunnel surgery up to 13% of patients were diagnosed with proximal median nerve compression. Proximal median nerve compression is a poorly known and recognized condition that is likely to be underdiagnosed. Surgical treatment has become more common in recent years even though the effect of surgical treatment is unclear at the moment. The planned multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial determines the efficacy of proximal median nerve release in patients with persistent proximal median nerve compression. The primary outcome is patient reported improvement of symptoms on a 7-point Likert scale at 6 months after the randomization to treatment group.