Carpal tunnel syndrome during pregnancy

Carpal tunnel syndrome is common during pregnancy. The symptoms usually disappear after delivery, but how soon has not been established. Thirty pregnant women with the syndrome reported to us the degree of pain in their hands every week before, and daily after, delivery. Pain was graded on a scale from 0 (none) to 10 (worst imaginable). The prevalence of the syndrome during pregnancy was about 2%. The mean pain score was 5.6 (SD 2.0) at referral and this was reduced by 1.2 (SD 2.2) after wearing an orthosis for a week. After this, it stayed almost unchanged until delivery. The score fell by half during the first week after parturition and by half again during the next week. The reduction in score was strongly correlated with loss of the weight gained during pregnancy (r = 0.97; p <0.001). Although symptoms may persist for some weeks after delivery, the severity declines quickly.