肥胖與腕隧道症候群之關聯性研究

The Relationship Between Obesity and the Diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

在一般族群中，腕隧道症候群是最常見之周邊神經病變，其主要是導因於壓迫到手腕正中神經所致；本次研究包括83位電生理檢查診斷爲腕隧道症候群之病患（其中20位男性，63位女性），82位爲控制組（27位男性，55位女性），研究期間爲2003年4月到10月至澄清醫院神經內科門診求診之病患。所有病患皆按身體質量指數和體脂肪分類；腕隧道症候群組之病患依照神經傳導改變之嚴重程度來區分等級。腕隧道症候群組和控制組在比較身體質量指數其平均値上有明顯之差異(26.17±4.24 vs. 24.56±3.57; p＜0.01)。肥胖病患（身體質量指數≧27）較控制組（身體質量指數＜24）容易罹患腕隧道症候群(28/45 vs. 26/66; p＜0.01)。腕隧道症候群組的平均體脂肪爲和控制組比較，有明顯之差異(34.59±8.62 vs 30.88±9.10; P＜0.01)。我們的研究指出腕隧道症候群的發生與身體質量指數和體脂肪之增加有關。本研究所得到的結論是肥胖對腕隧道症候群之發生是一個相當重要的單一危險因子。

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most commonly observed neuropathy in the general population, resulting from a compression of the median nerve at the level of the carpal tunnel. We performed a case-control study including 83 patients (20 men and 63 women) with electrodiagnostic evidence of CTS cases and 82 control subjects (27 men and 55 women) at Cheng-Ching Hospital from April to October of 2003. All patients were categorized by their body mass index (BMI) and body fat. The CTS group was classified according to the severity of nerve conduction studies. There was significant difference in the average BMI between patients of the CTS group and control group (26.17±4.24 vs. 24.56±3.57; p<0.01). Obese patients (BMI ≧ 27) developed CTS more often than normal groups (BMI<24) (28/45 vs. 26/66; p<0.01). The average body fat in the CTS group was 34.59±8.62, significantly different from the control group (30.88±9.10; p<0.01). Our study revealed that the presence of CTS was associated with increasing BMI and body fat. We concluded that obesity was a strong independent risk factor in developing carpal tunnel syndrome.