Carpal-tunnel pressure.

Using the constant infusion technique, we have measured the pressures within the carpal tunnel in 30 hands in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome and in 4 hands in control subjects. The mean pressure in the normal, control subjects was 13 mmHg and in the carpal tunnel syndrome patients 26 mmHg. In the normal subjects the pressures did not change along the canal, whereas in the patients the values in the middle section were 50 percent higher than the mean. Our results correspond to reports of computed tomography and magnetic resonance recordings of nonuniform dimension of the carpal tunnel.