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Why not endoscopic surgery?

Posted , 4 users are following.

CountessNina
CountessNina

I got involved with this forum accidently but I've been quite fascinated by it.  I see how many people are suffering the results of the open carpal tunnel surgery that seems to be the only type you're offered in Canada?  What is that about?  

I have had both wrists operated on with the endoscopic surgery in the USA.  Each time the serious pain I'd been having from the nerve being compressed was immediately gone.  the surgery took about 15 minutes.  I had one stitch and my hand was wrapped in a hugh padded bandage.  No lifting heavy things, but otherwise my hand was quite usable even with the bulky bandage.  I was not in pain and did all the usual things.  Two weeks out the stitch was removed along with the bandage.  And that was it.  Now you can't even see where it was done.  

I knew people years ago who had the open surgery and were out of work for 6 weeks!  

Why isn't this done in Canada?  Knowing what I know now, if I were anywhere needing the surgery and the doctor wouldn't or couldn't do the endoscopic process, I would search for another even if it meant leaving the country.  

 

1 like, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • barbara02002
    barbara02002 CountessNina

    Posted

    I live in the USA and my surgery has been a disaster. I wish I knew your doctor.
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina barbara02002

      Posted

      Was it endoscopic?  My doctor is in Seattle, but doesn't look like you are, if that's your zip code.  It's too late anyway, isn't it?  
  • hillary67167
    hillary67167 CountessNina

    Posted

    I have heard of the endoscopic surgery for carpel tunnel but wasn't offered to me - don't know if it's done very much in the UK.
  • barbara02002
    barbara02002 CountessNina

    Posted

    My zip is 13807, upstate NY. I was not offered endoscopic. It was done by a plastic surgeon on staff at Bassett Hospital. Was yours done by a plastic surgeon?. Just wondering.
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina barbara02002

      Posted

      No, I did not have a plastic surgeon.  It doesn't seem to me that this would be their field.  I had an orthopedic surgeon who is specializing in hands.  I hope there are people reading this who will know they can request the type of surgery they want and can change doctors if they're not getting what they want.  It's a big problem because it's not being offered and how would people even know to ask for the easier, shorter, less painful surgery?  
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina barbara02002

      Posted

      No, I did not have a plastic surgeon.  It doesn't seem to me that this would be their field.  I had an orthopedic surgeon who is specializing in hands.  I hope there are people reading this who will know they can request the type of surgery they want and can change doctors if they're not getting what they want.  It's a big problem because it's not being offered and how would people even know to ask for the easier, shorter, less painful surgery?  
  • hillary67167
    hillary67167 CountessNina

    Posted

    Actually my surgeon is a plastic surgeon who specialises in hands and wrists.
  • ejj11251955
    ejj11251955 CountessNina

    Posted

    My understanding is that the open surgery is done when damage is more severe.
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina ejj11251955

      Posted

      Thanks for your update.  I don't know if that's true or not.  When I had the first surgery I had been seen by a neurologist two weeks before and he told me I had real damage to the nerves in that arm and that I should not wait for surgery.  Of course I didn't wait and the surgeon did the 15 minute surgery.  I never asked if they do the open kind because I surely didn't want it.  I do know that they use full, although short term, anasthesia so that there is no movement in the arm.  Local anaesthesia would still allow for some movement.  

      I could see the open surgery being using if the hand is not in good shape or has deformities, etc.  It doesn't sound like that's the case for the people who are posting here.  

  • barbara02002
    barbara02002 CountessNina

    Posted

    My scar is about an inch and 1/4. I still (after 9 months) get a stabbing pain there occasionally and as I have said, nerve pain that never goes away in my fingers. Dr. is quick to say, that if I had not waited too long for surgery it would be fine. I don't believe this because the surgery has made it worse and when he says maybe it didn't work because of that, that is one thing but the fact that the surgery made it worse is not right.
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina barbara02002

      Posted

      Has the burning pain and numbness at night gone away?  That was the kind of pain I felt before surgery and it was immediately gone. Is the nerve pain in the fingers what you always felt?  
  • barbara02002
    barbara02002 CountessNina

    Posted

    No, the nighttime pain and numbness are no better. I've gone back to wearing the braces at night so i"m not waking up hourly. No, I did not have the burning nerve pain in those fingers before the surgery, just numbness which looking back, I could have lived with. It's like these fingers have been burned and are so sensitve to touch or pressure. I sew, I paint and make jewelry which are impossible to do without putting pressure on or rubbing together....even writing is a problem becuase of trying to hold the pen. Also, now that the weather is getting cooler I have to keep a mitten or glove with me at all times. My right hand gets painfully cold while my left hand is warm. I am still trying to figure out what to do next.
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina barbara02002

      Posted

      Clearly something has gone wrong with your surgery.  I would immediately find a new doctor.  You need a hand specialist.  Try to get recommendations from your primary care doctor, or someone else who has a hand doctor they respect.  I'd leave that first guy because he is not helping you, and has made things worse.  Do you live in the US, or where?
    • CountessNina
      CountessNina

      Posted

      Barbara,

      I would want to know if the transverse carpal ligament was cut, as that is what is supposed to happen in the surgery.  Then it pops open and the pressure on the median nerve is released.  What else is going on in your hands?  Someone needs to be checking that out.  Where is the pain coming from? What are you waiting for?  Get yourself to another doctor.

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