Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome in patients with fibromyalgia

This study was planned to investigate the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and the normal population. Paresthesia in the hands, sensory and motor deficits, and atrophy of the thenar muscles of 50 patients with FM and 50 matched control subjects were evaluated. Tinel's and Phalen's signs and bilateral electrophysiological studies of the median nerves were performed. The differences between the groups in terms of paresthesia (13 FM patients, two control subjects, P<0.01) and sensory deficits (four FM patients, 0 control subjects, P<0.05) were statistically significant. In the FM and the control groups, a total of five (10%) and two (4%) cases of CTS were documented electrophysiologically, respectively. However, the difference between the groups in CTS prevalence was not statistically significant ( P>0.05). In conclusion, paresthesias are a common symptom and associated condition of FM patients. Together with sensory deficits in the hands, they should remind the physician of the possibility of undiagnosed CTS.