Incidence of carpal tunnel release: trends and implications within the United States ambulatory care setting.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the changes, trends, and implications of carpal tunnel release (CTR) surgery within an ambulatory setting over the past decade in the United States.


METHODS
We undertook an analysis of ambulatory surgery center CTR cases using data from the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention carried out this survey in 1996, and again in 2006. We searched the cases with the procedure codes indicative of CTR.


RESULTS
The number of CTR procedures increased by 38% (from 360,000 to 577,000) between 1996 and 2006. In 1996, 16% of all ambulatory CTRs were performed in freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (hospital-based centers were 84%), and the proportion increased to 49% in 2006. By 2006, greater than 99% of CTRs were performed in an ambulatory setting. There was a significant increase in women aged 50 to 59 years of age undergoing CTR.


CONCLUSIONS
The minimal invasiveness of CTR combined with the advent of ambulatory care facilities has made CTR a predominantly outpatient procedure. In contrast to other reports, our study demonstrated a higher incidence of CTR within the United States in 2006 compared with 1996. Elderly women, in particular, with CTS were 3 times more likely to be treated surgically than other age groups. Further study is needed to better define factors influencing CTR indications.


METHODS
Prognostic II.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Upper Extremity and Microvascular Division, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA.
Marc
M
Fajardo
Sunny H
SH
Kim
Robert M
RM
Szabo
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology