Role of Anthropometric Characteristics in Idiopathic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A square‐shaped wrist as a predictor of carpal tunnel syndrome: A meta‐analysis

“…A pooled estimate of 16 included studies (14 conducted in men and women and 2 in women) was 4.05 (95% CI 2.81–5.84, I 2 = 88.9%). The pooled OR was 5.49 (95% CI 3.49–8.64, I 2 = 89.0%) for 10 studies that controlled their estimates for some confounders (at least age and gender) and 2.25 (95% CI 1.65–3.08, I 2 = 46.2%) for 6 studies that reported unadjusted estimates.…”

Gender differences in carpal tunnel relative cross-sectional area: a possible causative factor in idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome

“…Some studies have found an association with the cross-sectional area and shape of the carpal canal (Boz et al, 2004;Chiotis et al, 2013) but most have not, whether measuring external hand size (Bleecker et al, 1985) or with investigations such as ultrasound (Kim et al, 2012) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (Pierre-Jerome et al,1997). Chiotis et al (2013) examined hand size and carpal tunnel cross-sectional area with ultrasound, in patients with and without CTS. They calculated carpal tunnel ratios by dividing the depth of the cross-section of the canal by the width.…”

Associations Between Body Anthropometric Measures and Severity of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

“…Previous literature data showed a direct relation of slowed SCV and DML of the median nerve (or the stage of CTS electrophysiological severity) with the values of some ratios of the hand/wrist (hand ratio and wrist ratio). [8][9][10]12,14,19,32,51 On the contrary, other authors did not find any relation between the wrist ratio and electrophysiological CTS severity or DML and SCV of the median nerve in patients with CTS 15,52 and in those without CTS. 53 In the carpal tunnel, the median nerve is subjected to various mechanical stresses related to different postures and movements of the fingers and wrist.…”

“…The increased tension of the flexor tendons of the fingers during forced grip, the contraction of the lumbrical muscles during pinch or grip, and the incursion of the flexor digitorum superficialis and profundus muscles proximally into the carpal tunnel space during wrist extension are able to increase the carpal tunnel pressure, predisposing to CTS. 12,43,[61][62][63][64][65] It is likely that the compression of the median nerve and consequently the severity of nerve damage are greater in short and wide hands and in squareshaped wrists that match with deep and narrow carpal tunnels 19 than in long hands and less square-shaped wrists. This may explain our most striking result that the wrist/palm ratio (a ratio that takes into account the depth of the wrist and the length of the hand palm) showed the highest relative risk in the severe stage of electrophysiological and clinical severity.…”

“…1-7 Individual risk factors included demographic variables (age and female gender) and anthropometric measurements (high body mass index [BMI], obesity, and some hand and wrist anatomic configurations). [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] First, Johnson et al 8 demonstrated that a wrist ratio (calculated by dividing the anteroposterior wrist depth by the mediolateral wrist width at the distal wrist crease) >0.7 might be a predisposing factor of CTS because there was direct relation between the wrist ratio and the wrist to third digit sensory latency of the median nerve. Later, Kouyoumdjian et al 22 introduced a new index, the wrist/palm ratio (dividing the wrist depth by the palm length [ie, the distance from the distal flexor wrist crease to the third digit metacarpophalangeal crease]) and showed that the wrist ratio and the wrist/palm ratio were directly related to the delay of the wrist to the second digit sensory latency of the median nerve in patients with CTS.…”