According to the study, published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the best preliminary tests physicians can use to determine the presence of CTS are the square-shaped wrist and abductor pollicis brevis (or thenar) weakness tests.
Results showed that the thenar weakness test detected the presence of CTS in 66 percent of 142 hands with CTS. The square-shaped wrist was correct in 69 percent of the cases, said Kurt Kuhlman, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Ohio State University. Kuhlman co-authored the study with William Hennessey of the Latrobe Area Hospital in Pennsylvania.
“A reason for doing these tests is that they can be done quickly,” Kuhlman said. “These tests are meant to help key a physician in to determining if a patient really has CTS.”
According to the study, published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the best preliminary tests physicians can use to determine the presence of CTS are the square-shaped wrist and abductor pollicis brevis (or thenar) weakness tests.
Results showed that the thenar weakness test detected the presence of CTS in 66 percent of 142 hands with CTS. The square-shaped wrist was correct in 69 percent of the cases, said Kurt Kuhlman, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Ohio State University. Kuhlman co-authored the study with William Hennessey of the Latrobe Area Hospital in Pennsylvania.
“A reason for doing these tests is that they can be done quickly,” Kuhlman said. “These tests are meant to help key a physician in to determining if a patient really has CTS.”