bone scan suggested
Good Morning,
I revisited the surgeon who performed the Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery and I was surprised at his response when I informed him that I made an emergency appointment with the doctor who originally diagnosed CTS. The surgeon stated that it was "his hand" and to leave the treatment to him. I reached out to my doctor because I was experiencing the pain I posted in a earlier note. I was instructed by the surgeon to get a bone scan. As he was not emoting the best bed side manner during this visit, I waited until I got home and googled what he explain he was looking for in the bone scan results. Needless to say, when I got home I forgot the letters to the acronym that he had given me as I did not find results on google. He said something like RTS syndrome, I thought.
Later during the week I received a call from the person that will be conducting the bone scan test and she told me the reason that she was conducting this test is to see if there was infection in my bone!?
Please advise. Pain persists right hand is totally useless. I cannot lift, hold, or clench. I am often awaken in the middle of the night with severe pain that is only remedied by holding my hand in an awkward, arm facing backward position.
Thanks in advance.
Webflower
Thank you so much for responding to my inquiries. Yes it was RSD the acronym the surgeon used. I had surgery on 31 March 2016. After I had the bone scan test I will be undergoing another nerve conduction study. The test was delayed due to the swelling. I had to add a 5-day course of steroids to assist with the swelling. I am happy to report the swelling has gone down. I was not aware that bone was involved in the surgery. Please explain.
Thanks, WB
There is no direct interference with bone during the surgery itself but infection can spread to bone from any surgical site. It has been suggested that there are characteristic changes in the bone scan appearances in CRPS but I am not sure how relaiable this is for diagnosis - it's not my field. Nerve conduction and EMG studies are usually normal in CRPS. JB
Your surgeon is probably thinking of complex regional pain syndrome, a known complication of carpal tunnel surgery which is also known unde rthe older name reflex sympathetic dystrophy - so either CRPS or RSD would be the abbreviations - both the same thing. Another reason for such scan might be osteomyelitis - infection in the bone. How long is it now since the surgery again? Do we have some pre and post-operative nerve conduction studies to work with? JB