Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) may be associated with vasculopathy, peripheral, autonomic and entrapment neuropathy. In this study, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in patients with RA was investigated.Subjects And Method: 100 patients with RA according to the revised criteria of American College of Rheumatology. All patients were subjected to clinical evaluation including complete history taking, general, neurological examination and locomotor examination, assessment of activity and severity of the disease, radiological investigation to exclude cervical cause of CTS and laboratory investigations including routine investigations and electrophysiological investigations.Results: Carpal tunnel syndrome was determined in 31 patients (31%) of the patients with RA . Fifteen patients had been mild (48%), fifteen patients had been moderate (48%), and one patient had been severe (4 %).Conclusions: In this study, the prevalence of CTS in patients with RA may be high. We recommend that an electroneurophysiologic examination should be performed as a periodic assessment of RA patients as routine diagnostic procedure especially females patients, younger age, patients with deformities and patients with high DAS28 activity.Further studies to establish the role of other diagnostic procedure in diagnosis of CTS in RA patients.Plan for rehabilitation studies to improve the health of RA patients with CTS..