Medical and social significance of diseases of the peripheral nervous system on the example of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Abstract

Peripheral nerve diseases are one of the socially significant problems in the healthcare system of the Russian Federation. Effective care for patients suffering from these diseases is an important task for healthcare, as so as they are accompanied by prolonged disability. However, at present we do not have data that could fully demonstrate the medico-social and medico-economic aspects of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and other peripheral nerve diseases in the Russian Federation. The aim of the study is to improve the quality of medical care for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome based on the analysis of statistical data of patients operated on for this pathology in the S. P. Botkin City Clinical Hospital. Material and methods. The patients in the study were all adult men and women who underwent surgical treatment of CTS at S. P. Botkin City Clinical Hospital in the period from 2016 to 2022. The sources of information about the treated patients were the information of medical information systems used in the hospital in different years. Statistical and visualization tools of the Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet were used to obtain descriptive statistics and present data graphically. Results. In the S. P. Botkin City Clinical Hospital, which is the clinical base of the Department of neurosurgery of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, in the period from 2016 to 2022, 692 surgical interventions were performed for patients with CTS. The analysis of statistical data has shown results comparable with the available literature data, however, a distinctive feature is an extremely long history of the disease before surgical treatment. Conclusions. Currently, in our country, there is an underestimation of the importance of peripheral nerve diseases, therefore, their separate statistical accounting in the structure of neurological morbidity is extremely important. Another important task is a multidisciplinary approach that provides high-quality medical care to patients with this pathology.