Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, including details on symptoms, causes, trauma, diagnosis, physiotherapy.

Towards development of a nonhuman primate model of carpal tunnel syndrome: performance of a voluntary, repetitive pinching task induces median mononeuropathy in Macaca fascicularis.

Sommerich CM, Lavender SA, Buford JA, J Banks J, Korkmaz SV, Pease WS

Department of Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering, The Ohio State University, 1971 Neil Avenue, Room 210, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. sommerich.1@osu.edu

This study investigated changes in median sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) over several weeks of exposure to a voluntary, moderately forceful, repetitive pinching task performed for food rewards by a small sample of young adult female monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). SNCV, derived from peak latency, decreased significantly in the working hands of three of the four subjects. The overall decline in NCV was 25%-31% from baseline. There was no decrease in SNCV in the contralateral, nonworking hands. Several weeks after being removed from the task, SNCV returned to within 87%-100% of baseline. MRI showed enlargement of the affected nerves near the proximal end of the carpal tunnel, at the time of maximal SNCV slowing. This new animal model demonstrates a temporally unambiguous relationship between exposure to a moderately forceful, repetitive manual task and development of median mononeuropathy at the wrist, and recovery of SNCV following termination of task exposure. This study contributes to the pattern of evidence of a causal relationship between manual work, median mononeuropathy, and carpal tunnel syndrome in humans. In the future, this new animal model could be used to characterize dose-response relationships between risk factors and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Published 7 May 2007 in J Orthop Res, 25(6): 713-24.
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