An aggressive return-to-work program in surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: a comparison of costs.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common malady associated with modern manufacturing. An aggressive return-to-work program was begun in 1980. A prospective study was begun in 1982, and data matured through 1988 comparing the costs of a control group of patients treated by the more traditional method (in the author's geographic area) and the author's aggressive return-to-work policy. Sixty-seven patients with 94 carpal tunnel surgeries were studied. The results reveal that the aggressively treated group had 1 of 44 patients fail to return to work following surgery, and 3 of 23 failed to return to work from the control group. One patient of each group developed a recurrence. The tangible costs that could be computed were found to be 58 percent less in the aggressively treated group than in the control group. At the same time, the patients can maintain their standard of living.