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Alfred Franzblau, MD; Robert A. Werner, MD

JAMA. 1999;282:186-187.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common diagnosis with an estimated lifetime risk of 10% and an annual incidence of 0.1% among adults.^1-2 These estimates are undoubtedly conservative because they are based on data collected prior to the substantial increase in work-related cases of CTS in the 1980s and early 1990s and the concomitant increased awareness of this condition.^3-4 More recent estimates of the prevalence of CTS in the general population are 0.6% in men and 5.8% in women.⁵ Now, data from Sweden reported by Atroshi and colleagues⁶ in this issue of THE JOURNAL suggest an overall prevalence of 2.1%.

More than 200,000 carpal tunnel release surgical procedures are performed each year in the United States, which makes it the most common surgical procedure performed on the hand. The associated direct medical costs are estimated to be more than $1 billion per year.⁷ . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Department of Environmental and Industrial Health, University of Michigan School of Public Health (Drs Franzblau and Werner); Center for Ergonomics, Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan College of Engineering (Drs Franzblau and Werner); and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Michigan Medical School (Dr Werner), Ann Arbor.

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