Improvement in Sleep Quality after Carpal Tunnel Release

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has multiple implications on patient quality of life. In particular, CTS may affect quality of sleep, causing sleep deprivation in extreme cases. Carpal tunnel release (CTR) surgery may aid in resolving these disturbances. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether patients who have undergone CTR have improved sleep quality and to determine the timeline for such improvement. Twenty-one patients were prospectively enrolled and followed-up for two years. They were asked to complete a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a pain visual analog scale (VAS), a sleep perception VAS, and both components Symptom Severity and Functional Status Scale from the Levine-Katz carpal tunnel questionnaire. Patients had overall improvement in their postoperative outcome measures; however, the improvement in PSQI became significant at the 12-24 month follow-up, whereas both of the VAS scores significantly improved at an earlier 6 month follow-up. Both components of the Levine-Katz questionnaire significantly improved in the immediate postoperative period. Our findings allow surgeons to counsel their patients on realistic expectations after CTR and its impact on sleep quality.