Posttraumatic ulnar neuropathy versus non-traumatic cubital tunnel syndrome: Clinical features and response to surgery

Summary

The outcome of 53 patients operated on either for posttraumatic ulnar neuropathy (PUN) or non-traumatic cubital tunnel syndrome (CTS) was reviewed after 3 years follow-up. Results were analyzed and compared considering the surgical technique used (neurolysis versus anterior transposition or combined) and a variety of clinical features that could influence outcome after nerve release. In the whole series, excellent outcome was obtained in 39 patients (73%). No major differences were found with the different surgical procedures. Slightly better results, but no statistically significant, were found in cases with CTS. As to clinical parameters, patients with CTS had a higher mean age, a shorter duration of symptoms and most were men. The presence of symptoms for more than one year before operation significantly diminished the chance of satisfactory recovery in cases with CTS, but not in those with PUN. For both CTS- and PUN-cases with symptoms for more than one year, neurolysis plus anterior transposition was the more useful technique. Our study shows that CTS and PUN differ to a certain extent in their clinical profile, electrophysiological findings and response to different surgical approaches and hence can be considered as two different clinical entities.