Autonomic Dysfunction in Postmenopausal Women with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Women frequently experience rather severe autonomic symptoms during the postmenopausal period. The carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is also known to be accompanied by certain autonomic symptoms. We aimed to evaluate some autonomic functions in postmenopausal women suffering from CTS. In this case-control study, we performed median nerve conduction and sympathetic skin response (SSR) tests. All patients and healthy individuals were questioned about the autonomic symptoms at the hands (red or purple skin coloration, excessive sweating, and feeling cold) and also about hot flashes and night sweats. The data from 80 women with postmenopausal idiopathic CTS were compared with those from 75 postmenopausal women without this syndrome. About half (47.5%) of the CTS patients had complaints of red or purple discoloration, 66.3% complained about sweating, and 12.5% complained about feeling cold in their hands, while the corresponding rates were 21.3%, 17.3% and 4.0% in the control group. There was a statistically significant difference between the control and patient groups in terms of sweating (P < 0.001) and discoloration (P = 0.034). Among postmenopausal vasomotor symptoms, hot flashes (P < 0.001) and night sweats (P = 0.026) were significantly more frequent in patients with CTS. The latter demonstrated a higher mean SSR amplitude (P = 0.02) and longer mean SSR latency (P = 0.01). We conclude that the effects of hormonal changes (mainly reduced estrogen levels) on autonomic functions are noticeably aggravated by the respective autonomic effects in CTS patients.