Upper extremity entrapment neuropathy and tourniquet use in patients undergoing hemodialysis

Patients with end-stage renal disease, undergoing hemodialysis, have been shown to have an increased prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome. From mid-1981 through 1986, 21 patients undergoing hemodialysis were operated on for 33 cases of clinically diagnosed entrapment of the median and/or ulnar nerves, including 14 extremities with functioning vascular access. All patients report improvement in symptoms and function in the affected extremity. Preoperative tourniquet use did not have a permanent adverse effect on any access site. Electrophysiologic studies were not reliable predictors of clinically resolvable nerve entrapment.