Carpal tunnel wrist can now be fixed with a 15-minute procedure that allows patients to go back to work the next day By MEIKE LEONARD Published: 19:41 EST, 9 November 2024 | Updated: 19:42 EST, 9 November 2024 e-mail View comments Sufferers of a common and agonising wrist condition that takes years to heal could get a pioneering new procedure that eradicates pain in minutes. More than 340,000 people in the UK suffer with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) – an uncomfortable hand injury that occurs when a ligament above the narrow passageway in the wrist, known as the carpal tunnel, swells and compresses the main nerve. The condition can cause debilitating symptoms including pain, pins and needles, weakness, difficulty gripping and numbness.
Previously, the only way to cure severe cases involved months of steroid injections and, if that was unsuccessful, an operation to open up the wrist and severe the ligament to relieve pressure on the nerve. Now, doctors in Scotland have become the first in the UK to carry out a new procedure that takes just 15 minutes, has no incision wound and allows patients to return to work the next day. Over 340,000 people in the UK suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), an uncomfortable wrist condition (file photo) The technique, ultrasound-guided carpal tunnel surgery, is widely used in Europe and experts say it is likely to be rolled out across the NHS in the next two years.
‘Patients benefit from reduced pain levels and recover more quickly than .