Objective: The objective of this study is to analyze the factors that may impact on the development of trigger digit (TD) in patients with carpal tunnel release (CTR). Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and/or TD between January 2004 and May 2014, at our institution. Inclusion criteria were treatment of at least one TD or CTS and age older than 18 years. We performed a manual chart review of the participants and analyzed the following factors: age, gender, previous surgery for CTS or TD, and comorbidities (hypothyroidism and diabetes). In addition, we searched for previous CTS surgery on the same hand of TD symptoms. We performed a follow-up of patients through phone calls, with our primary outcome measure being presence of TD symptoms or need for TD surgery on any hand. The mean follow-up period for this study was 63 months (range, 19-137 months). Statistical Analysis: Patients with CTS were divided into 2 groups: group 1—history of TD surgery or symptoms, and group 2—no TD history. Analysis of associated factors was performed through chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests for an alpha level of significance of .05. An additional analysis was performed of patients with the diagnosis of TD who had a previous CTR surgery on the same hand. Results: In total, 716 charts were reviewed, with 391 patients interviewed and included in the analysis. Of these, 307 patients had history of CTR. There were 106 (27.9%) patients with the diagnosis of TD. Analysis of associated factors showed a significant difference (P = .01) between the median age of patients with TD, 54 years (range, 32-81), compared with the group of no TD, 51 years (range, 25-86). We found no association between the development of TD and other factors (gender, hypothyroidism, and diabetes). From the total of charts reviewed, 190 patients had TD history or surgery. Only 38 (20%) of them had a previous CTR on the same hand. We found that there was a significantly higher proportion of female patients in the group of TD with prior CTR (P = .028). The other variables did not show significant differences. Conclusions: This study shows that there is a high number of patients, 27.9%, with CTS surgery that also have history of TD. We found that older patients with CTS had a significantly higher rate of TD. Only 20% of patients who had TD surgery or symptoms during follow-up had a previous CTS surgery on that hand. CTS and TD are conditions which occur in a group of patients with similar characteristics. We did not find a higher rate of TD development in patients with previous CTS surgery.
