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Updated: May 11, 2026
Screening of Axonal Degeneration in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Using Ultrasonography and Nerve Conduction Studies
Published on: January 11, 2019
Ultrasound for carpal tunnel syndrome screening in manual laborers
Michael S Cartwright1, Francis O Walker, Jill N Blocker
1Department of Neurology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Main Floor Reynolds Tower, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA. mcartwri@wakehealth.edu
Introduction:
Manual laborers are at increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and a combination of history, physical examination, and nerve conduction studies is often used to screen for CTS in this population. Neuromuscular ultrasound may be a better screening tool, because it is painless. In this study we compare the accuracy of nerve conduction studies and ultrasound for CTS screening.
Methods:
Five hundred thirteen manual laborers were screened prospectively for CTS using nerve conduction studies and neuromuscular ultrasound, and the accuracy of the 2 techniques was compared using the Katz hand diagram as the diagnostic standard.
Results:
The ROC curves for the 2 techniques were not significantly different (P = 0.542), indicating that the approaches had similar diagnostic accuracy.
Conclusions:
Neuromuscular ultrasound is a painless technique that has diagnostic accuracy similar to nerve conduction studies and can be used to screen large populations at risk for CTS.
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