[Results of decompression of the ulnar nerve in Guyon's canal]

Between January 1980 and March 1988 twenty-two patients with compression neuropathies of the ulnar nerve in the Guyon's canal were treated. In seven patients the ulnar nerve was simultaneously decompressed at the elbow. Nine patients suffered from disorders of the sensibility and thirteen patients had sensory and motor symptoms. The ulnar nerve compressions were caused by a ganglion, a thrombosed aneurysm of the ulnar artery, or an aberrant branch of the ulnar artery; in ten cases by the fibrotic arch of the origin of the hypothenar muscles and in eight cases by the roof of the Guyon's canal. In one case no abnormality could be found. The follow-up of twenty-one patients showed, that the sensibility was improved or normalized. The motor function was normalized or improved in three patients and remained unchanged in four patients. No correlation could be found between the postoperative results, the intraoperative findings, the patients' age and the period of symptoms.