Abstract

The Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test (SWT) is useful for diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), but not generally preferred. A newly developed quantitative sensory evaluation method using SWT scoring was applied to 150 preoperative and 23 postoperative CTS hands. For SWT scoring, the median nerve area was divided into 17 segments. Each segment was scored from 0 to 3 points based on minimum pressure sensation, and the sum of each segment was scored using four score-totalling methods. Four different scoring methods were investigated and analysis was done to figure out the best clinical application. All four methods reflected CTS severity and correlated with each other. The method, in which scores distal to the metacarpophalangeal joints for each finger were summed, was simple to perform and clearly reflected not only CTS severity but also postoperative recovery. A newly developed quantitative sensory evaluation method based on SWT scoring seemed to be useful for evaluating both preoperative and postoperative CTS.

Keywords: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament Test; Sensory Evaluation

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Citation

Citation: Mikio Muraoka., et al. “Quantitative Sensory Evaluation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Using the Semmes-Weinstein Monofilament Test".Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 5.11 (2021): 160-163.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Mikio Muraoka., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.