Optimizing Recovery After Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Release Surgery: The Role of Counseling in Pain Management and Perioperative Functional Enhancement

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flowchart summary of the study methodology.

Table 1 Summary of the Demographic and Disease Related Variables

Demographic Variables
	n. (%)		n. (%)
Gender	Males	155 (22.8%)	Females	526 (77.2%)
Side	Right	421 (61.8%)	Left	260 (38.2%)
Occupation	Manual	162 (23.8%)	Non-manual	519 (76.2%)
Handedness	Right	631 (92.7%)	Left	50 (7.3%)
Smoking	Smoker	122 (17.9%)	Non-smoker	559 (82.1%)
Diabetes	Yes	219 (32.2%)	No	462 (67.8%)
Hypertension	Yes	262 (38.5%)	No	419 (61.5%)
	Mean (±SD)
Age (yrs.)	52.0 (12.1)
Weight (cm)	81.0 (18.5)
Height (kg)	161.6 (13.3)
BMI (kg/m^2)	31.4 (15.9)
Disease related variables
	n		(%)
Pain	590		86.6
Paresthesia	654		96.0
Night symptoms	591		86.8
Weak grip	532		78.1
Use of steroid injection	99		14.5
Night splint	238		34.9
	Mean (±SD)
Self-reported functional disability (/10)	7.2 (2.1)
Symptoms duration (months)	19.2 (28.2)

Table 2 Summary of the Perioperative Variables

Perioperative Variables
	n. (%)		n. (%)
Preoperative Gabapentin use	Yes	167 (24.5%)	No	514 (75.5%)
Intra-procedural experience	Anxious	269 (39.5%)	Comfortable	411 (60.0%)
Pain during procedure	Exaggerated	152 (22.3%)	Tolerable	529 (77.7%)
Wound complications	Yes	46 (6.8%)	No	635 (93.2%)
Prolonged post-op analgesics use	Yes	303 (44.5%)	No	378 (55.5%)
Preoperative counselling	Comprehensive	333 (48.9%)	Suboptimal	348 (51.1%)
	Mean (±SD)
Self-reported pain relief (/10)	8.0 (2.3)
Time to max. improvement (mo.)	1.7 (2.5)

Table 3 Comparative Analysis Between Counselling Groups Using the Chi-Square Statistical Test for Categorical Variables Analysis. Student’s t-Test Was Used for Continuous Variables

Counselling Groups Analysis
	Proper Counselling Group (n=333)		Inadequate Counselling group (n=348)		Chi-Square	p-value
Intra-procedural experience	Relaxed	Anxious	Relaxed	Anxious	6.3	0.043*
	216	117	195	152
Pain during procedure	Exaggerated	Tolerable	Exaggerated	Tolerable	7.9	0.005*
	59	274	93	255
Wound complications	Yes	No	Yes	No	5.2	0.022*
	15	318	31	317
Prolonged post-op analgesics use	Yes	No	Yes	No	1.5	0.20
	140	193	163	185
	Mean (±SD)				p-value
Self-reported pain relief (/10)	8.1 (2.2)		7.9 (2.5)		0.30
Time to max. improvement (mo.)	1.83		1.72		0.28

Notes: *Values denotes statistically significant values (< 0.05).

Data Sharing Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon appropriate request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.