Comparative Study of Post-Operative Functional Outcomes of Open Carpal tunnel Release vs. Arthroscopic Carpal tunnel Release

Objective: This study aimed to compare treatment modalities OCTR and ACTR in treating carpel tunnel syndrome. This study assesses the important key indicators including symptom severity, functional status, pain intensity, time of recovery, and rate of complications. Methods: 80 patients presented in the hospital diagnosed with moderate to severe CTS were included over one year. Both surgical groups were assigned 40 patients and data was collected using the pre-operation and post-operation assessments utilizing the Shoulder and Hand Score, Disabilities of Arm, Visual Analog Scale for pain, Boston Carpel Tunnel Questionnaire, grip strength recovery, time taken to work again and incidence of complications. Results: DASH Score: At six months post-surgery, the mean DASH score for ACTR (21.85) was slightly better than OCTR (23.91). BCTQ Scores: ACTR had better outcomes in both the symptom severity (mean 1.99 vs. 2.21) and functional status (mean 2.29 vs. 2.54). Pain Levels: Patients undergoing ACTR reported lower pain levels (VAS mean 2.65 vs. 2.92). Grip Strength Recovery: ACTR showed a significant advantage with patients regaining 89.07% of baseline grip strength compared to 84.60% for OCTR. Recovery Time: ACTR patients returned to work sooner (mean 39.28 days) compared to OCTR (mean 45.55 days), and ACTR exhibited a lower complication rate (7.46% vs. 9.53%). Conclusion: Both OCTR and ACTR are highly effective surgical techniques for CTS treatment, offering significant symptom relief and functional recovery. While ACTR consistently demonstrated better benefits