[Stress-induced carpal tunnel syndrome in athletes--exemplified by 3 kinds of sports].

Abstract

As is generally known in occupational medicine, exposure to repetitive wrist movements, to vibration and heavy manual work may cause a carpal tunnel-syndrome (CTS). The examination of three kinds of sport (swimming, moto-cross-riding, body-building), each typical for one of the described reasons of high risk for an exercise-induced CTS, showed on 18 sports-women and 54 sportsmen that prolonged practice of one of these kinds of sport may indeed lead to CTS among young people. Six of the examined persons on the typical symptoms of CTS. The electrophysiological main feature of CTS, namely the distal motor latency of the median nerve, was had nine other sportsmen significantly longer than the age-specific normal value (according to Ludin). A clear positive correlation between the estimated total duration of training and the distal motor latency of the median nerve was found.