The purpose of this study was to compare diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy with and without concurrent carpal tunnel syndrome using the findings obtained during physical examinations and electrodiagnostic studies.
Out of total 100 patients with diabetic neuropathy, 14 patients had carpal tunnel syndrome. Of those 14 patients, four patients were positive on the Phalen test, two patients had a positive Tinel sign, two patients revealed specific physical findings of carpal tunnel syndrome, and only two patients revealed positive sharp waves during EMG studies. There was no statistical differences between the two groups in the age, sex and the duration of diabetes mellitus. In conclusion, this study seems to suggest that there is a significantly higher incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome in diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy than the general population; however, there was low incidence of positive physical findings of carpal tunnel syndrome during physical examination, thus nerve conduction study seems to be more sensitive of detecting the early phase of carpal tunnel syndrome in the patients with diabetic neuropahty than other types of physical examination or needle EMG study.
