Electromyography and ultrasound studies in the diagnostics of carpal tunnel syndrome

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a clinical condition with sensoryand motor manifestations related to median nerve (MN)compression at the wrist level. The goal of this study was tocompare two diagnostics methods, electromyography (EMG)and ultrasound (US) examination, in establishing the mostreliable and precise diagnostic approach to CTS. We examined67 patients with clinical diagnosis of CTS and a control groupof 42 healthy volunteers. For EMG and US, sensitivity andspecificity parameters were calculated, and grading of theseverity of MN injury was assessed with these technologies.The sensitivity and specificity for EMG was 93% and 97%, andfor US, 85% and 73%, respectively. The severity grades of MNinjury defined by EMG and US did not correspond to eachother. According to our data, EMG has higher sensitivity comparedto US in the diagnosis of CTS. EMG also allows estimatingquantitatively the severity of MN injury, while USmethod shows predominantly some qualitative estimation ofMN injury in CTS.

Keywords

• carpal tunnel syndrome
• tunnel neuropathy of median nerve
• ultrasound examination
• electromyography
• diagnostics