Follow-Up After Carpal Tunnel Decompression – General Practitioner Surgery Or Hand Clinic?: A randomized prospective study

We prospectively randomized 100 patients following carpal tunnel decompression who were having a 2-week postoperative assessment and removal of stitches to either their local general practitioner (GP) or the hospital outpatient department. All patients were seen at hospital 6 weeks postoperatively f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hand surgery, British volume British volume, 1999-06, Vol.24 (3), p.296-297
Main Authors: ATHERTON, W. G., FARAJ, A. A., RIDDICK, A. C. P., DAVIS, T. R. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aftercare
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - surgery
Decompression, Surgical - rehabilitation
Family Practice
Humans
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital
Patient Care Team
Postoperative Complications - rehabilitation
Prospective Studies
Surgical Wound Infection - etiology
Wound Healing - physiology
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Summary:We prospectively randomized 100 patients following carpal tunnel decompression who were having a 2-week postoperative assessment and removal of stitches to either their local general practitioner (GP) or the hospital outpatient department. All patients were seen at hospital 6 weeks postoperatively for a final assessment. The waiting time for assessment and suture removal was shorter at the GP surgery than in the outpatient department (mean 13 min and 28 min respectively) but significantly more patients were diagnosed as having wound infections (14% and 0% respectively); most were given antibiotics, perhaps unnecessarily.
ISSN:0266-7681
1532-2211
DOI:10.1054/JHSB.1999.0068