NHS Doncaster CCG — Community Carpel Tunnel Service (AQP)

Descriptions

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is caused when the median nerve, which runs through a tunnel in the palm of the hand called the carpal tunnel, is compressed. CTS decompression surgery is performed by cutting across the roof of the carpal tunnel to release pressure on the median nerve inside. The surgical decompression of the carpal tunnel is labelled as a procedure within the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (SYB) Commissioning for Outcomes (CFO) Policy (including National Evidence Based Interventions) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) recommend that it is more cost effect to offer this service within primary care. CTS is the most common form of nerve entrapment, nationally affecting 7-16 % of the UK population and currently a third of UK patients diagnosed with CTS require surgery. It is most common in women, with a UK General Practice research database finding that 88 men and 193 women presented with new CTS cases per 100 000 population, per year (RCS Commissioning Guide, 2017).