Follow-up Analysis Of The Cubital Tunnel Syndrome After Surgery

Objective To explore the etiology, diagnostic methods and related factors influencing the prognosis of cubital tunnel syndrome so as to provide theoretical basis for the clinical treatment.Methods Sixty-eight cases of cubital tunnel syndrome were collected from August 2004 to December 2010 in our hospital. A total of fifty patients were reviewed. Thirty-five males and fifteen females with an average age of 40.1±13.9 (range, 12-68) years. Twenty cases had history of fractures or dislocation of the elbow joint. Two cases had ganglion cysts and one case of rheumatoid arthritis. Twenty-two cases were caused by long-term desk job and five were caused by the other reasons. Three cases received non-operation treatment, and the other forty-seven cases which accepted surgery had an interval from incidence to surgery at an average of 5.7±8.6 (rang, 1-48) months. Fifty cases were followed up from two months to six years and seven months with an average time of two years and six months since they accepted operation or came to hospital. According to the function evaluation trial standards of upper limb peripheral nerve from the Hand Surgery Organization of Chinese Medical Association. Excellent outcomes were obtained in twenty-seven, good in eight and fair in nine patients. Results were rated as poor in six cases. Depart them into two groups according to the postoperative outcomes of different etiology. Use the univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis to analyze the related factors of cubital tunnel syndrome.Results Long-term elbow flexion became the main incentive of cubital tunnel syndrome. High solution ultrasonograthy scan contributes to the diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome. History of elbow trauma (OR=0.091, P=0.021) and the interval from incidence to surgery (OR=1.227, P=0.031) were the related factors that affecting the prognosis of cubital tunnel syndrome.Conclusion High solution ultrasonograthy scan contributes to the diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome. Choosing the treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome should concern about the specific situation of the etiology and the course of diseases. If the etiology was related to long-term flexion at the elbow joint and without any intrinsic muscles atrophy at a short term of course of diseases, the non-operation treatment should be chosen priority. If the symptoms did not improve obviously or even get worse when the non-operation treatment had already lasted for about two to three months, an operation should be taken. If the etiology of ulnar nerve compression was caused by the obsolete fracture, dislocation or malformation at the elbow joint, or space occupying lesion in the cubital tunnel, the operation should be actively performed as soon as possible.