title: Age delays the recovery of distal motor latency after carpal tunnel syndrome surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have shown slow healing of peripheral nerve injury in elderly patients. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most frequent compressive mononeuropathy, affecting mostly older people and females. Few studies have assessed electrophysiological differences between younger and older patients. We aimed to evaluate age-dependent differences in electrophysiological parameters preoperatively and postoperatively over a 100-day postoperative period.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study included 258 hands of patients who underwent conventional open-technique carpal tunnel syndrome surgery. Patients with paresthesia in the median nerve distribution or with impaired sensation or abnormal findings in sensory and motor median nerve conduction studies were enrolled. The age dependence of the preoperative values of distal motor latency, amplitude of the compound motor action potential and sensory conduction velocity was estimated using regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant age dependence was found for the preoperative distal motor latency, compound motor action potential, amplitude and sensory conduction velocity. The repair of segmental demyelination was nearly twice as slow in the older group, at a 5 % significance level, even when comparing groups with the same preoperative distal motor latency.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of preoperative nerve conduction parameters indicates that surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome is performed later in older patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computing and Control Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Vyšata
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Procházka
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kunc
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanta
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ehler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yadollahi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vališ
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D002349:Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010292:Paresthesia / Q000209:etiology; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology