Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is known as a repetitive motion disorder, but the role of other diseases in the development or prognosis of CTS is uncertain. We reviewed the literature to determine whether there is evidence for an increased prevalence of specific conditions in CTS patients and whether this evidence would support laboratory screening for these conditions.
Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Controlled Trial Register were searched for key words related to CTS and associated diseases. Relevant articles were selected according to specific criteria. Sources of bias and heterogeneity attributable to differences in study design and in patient selection were investigated by subgroup analysis.
After an initial search, we limited ourselves to three potentially important conditions: diabetes mellitus (DM), hypothyroidism (HT), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We identified nine articles with a total of 4908 CTS patients and 7671 controls that met our selection criteria. The nine studies were heterogeneous with respect to clinical and methodologic factors. In general, the prevalence of concurrent diseases was higher in CTS patients than in controls: the pooled odds ratios were 2.2 (95% confidence interval, 1.5-3.1) for DM, 1.4 (1.0-2.0) for HT, and 2.2 (1.4-3.4) for RA. Studies of lower methodologic quality reported, on average, higher odds ratios. Only one study provided information about whether the diagnosis of the concurrent condition was already made at the time of the CTS diagnosis.
We found evidence that the prevalences of DM, HT, and RA are higher in CTS patients, but only one study specifically addressed the issue of the prevalence of nonmanifest cases of the concurrent condition. At present, there is insufficient evidence for routine laboratory screening for concurrent conditions in all newly diagnosed CTS patients.