Study of ultrasound and nerve electromyogram in diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome and its severity in the elderly.

Objective: To explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound and nerve electromyography (EMG) in the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and its severity in the elderly.

Methods: The data of 140 elderly CTS patients were retrospectively analyzed. The data of 80 patients with other diseases with similar symptoms and high suspicion of CTS during the same period were retrospectively analyzed. Pearson method was used to analyze the correlation between cross-sectional area (CSA) and motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV), distal motor latency (DML), compound muscle action potential (CMAP), sensory conduction velocity (SCV), middle-latency (ML) and sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) levels. The value of CSA, MCV, DML, CMAP, SCV, ML and SNAP in the diagnosis of CTS and its severity was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

Results: CSA in mild, moderate and severe groups was positively correlated with DML (P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with CMAP (P < 0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) values of CSA, MCV, DML, CMAP, SCV, ML and SNAP in the diagnosis of normal people and mild CTS were 0.877, 0.787, 0.921, 0.730, 0.860, 0.688 and 0.904. The AUC values of CSA, DML, CMAP, SCV, ML and SNAP in the diagnosis of mild and moderate CTS were 0.863, 0.890, 0.760, 0.848, 0.850 and 0.739, respectively. The AUC values of CSA, MCV, DML and CMAP in the diagnosis of mild and moderate CTS were 0.683, 0.660, 0.870 and 0.693.

Conclusion: Ultrasound and nerve EMG are effective in the diagnosis of CTS.