Duration of the surgical treatment | Carpal tunnel syndrome surgery

Duration of the surgical treatment

How long the surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome takes depends on many factors. On the one hand, the approach and experience of the doctor play a major role. On the other hand, the individual anatomical conditions of the patient are always important.

In general, an uncomplicated carpal tunnel syndrome operation hardly takes more than a few minutes. Once the operation is completed, the patient remains in the practice for some time for observation. To ensure that the surgical wound heals without complications, the wrist remains in a firm bandage or possibly even a plaster cast for the next 7 to 10 days.

Threads are removed about 8 to 14 days after the operation. About 6 weeks after the operation, in most cases there is hardly any scar left. Moving the hand is possible and also recommended for the first few weeks after the operation, but more than a light load should be avoided in order to ensure good wound healing.

Anaesthesia

Carpal tunnel syndrome surgery is a relatively unproblematic, quick procedure and is rarely associated with complications. For this reason, the surgery is usually performed under regional anesthesia, so that the patient is conscious during the entire procedure, while pain elimination only occurs in the arm. In order to enable a low bleeding operation, the arm is first wrapped with a tight bandage to create a bloodless arm.

To prevent new blood from flowing into the arm, a blood pressure cuff is also applied and inflated. To anaesthetize the arm itself, the almost bloodless veins are then filled with a local anaesthetic. An alternative to this is a local anesthetic directly on the nerve plexus which supplies the arm. The nerve plexus passes through the armpit and can usually be anaesthetised without any problems with the help of an ultrasound device. General anesthesia is very unusual for carpal tunnel syndrome surgery, however, and is usually used when the patient feels very anxious about the procedure.