Surgically Treated Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Ulnar Nerve Entrapment at the Elbow in Different Occupations and their Effect on Surgical Outcome

We investigated whether certain occupations were over-represented among surgically treated carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar entrapment at the elbow, and if manual occupation affected surgical outcome. METHODS: We included 9030 patients operated for CTS and 1269 for UNE registered in the Swedish National Quality Register for Hand Surgery (HAKIR) 2010–2016. Occupational data was retrieved from Statistics Sweden. Outcome was assessed using the QuickDASH questionnaire. RESULTS: In patients operated for CTS, there were more assistant nurses, attendants/care providers/personal assistants, nannies/student assistants, carpenters/bricklayers/construction workers, cleaners, nurses, and vehicle mechanics than in the general population. In the UNE population, assistant nurses and attendants/care providers/personal assistants were over-represented. Manual workers with CTS scored the preoperative QuickDASH higher than non-manual workers. CONCLUSIONS: Manual workers are overrepresented among surgically treated CTS and UNE. Manual workers with CTS have more symptoms preoperatively than non-manual workers.