The effects of cold stress on Nerve Conduction Study parameters of Normal hands and hands with carpal tunnel syndrome

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a significant cause of hand paresthesia and responsible for loss of jobs, attack the women more. Recent Investigations evaluated the blood flow and emphasized the vascular cause of CTS in addition to median nerve compression. For all the study sample had been done after physical examination, a first Nerve Conduction Study (NCS), then further second NCS which carried out under Cold stress test with cooling the hands, showed significant high latencies (p<0.001) and low velocities (p<0.001) of motor and sensory median nerve in cooled CTS hands as compare to cooled Normal hands consequently the cold stress test is worst and positive with CTS hands, therefore the cold stress can induce detectable variations in NCS parameters of CTS hands, which was calculated significantly higher motor and sensory latencies (p<0.006) and lower velocities (p<0.04) than that before cold stress, whereas in Normal hands no significant differences after cold stress.