Is Fingertip numbness normal one day after bilateral CTS release?
Hi there,
Just had the surgery yesterday and surgeon mentioned that the numbing shot would last up to 12 hours but when I woke up this morning most of it was gone but I do still have some numbness in my middle and ring fingers on both hands. Just making sure this is normal. I’ve been icing my wrists and trying to keep hands above my heart as much as possible but still have noticeable swelling in fingers so I’m hoping the numbness will resolve as the swelling does. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Hi, the type/quantity/technique of local anaesthetic the surgeon used can have a prolonged effect. Most people metabolise the local anaesthetic within 6 - 12 hours but occasionally if a large quantity of local anaesthetic was infiltrated and a median nerve block was administered, numbness can last a bit longer. I have had patients of mine who reported that the effects of local anaesthetic lasted as long as 24 hours. Full flexing (making a tight fist) and extending the fingers out straight with hands elevated, will help with the swelling. Any improvement in your post-op symptoms since your first post on the 5th?
Nothing has changed. All but my pinky are somewhat numb (mostly fingertips), plus my palm starting in the middle of my palm up to the base of my fingers. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say they are a 2-3 in numbness. I still have feeling, but I am definitely aware of numbness. All of this is only on my left hand. My right hand and fingers are not numb at all.
One more thing to note that could be impacting this . . . I had a ganglion cyst at the base of my middle finger palm side. The surgeon gave me a cortisone shot in the cyst during the surgery. The cyst was gone immediately, but perhaps the cortisone shot is causing some of the numbness . . . ? Thank you both for your replies and your feedback.
I doubt if the cortisone itself would cause numbness though you can cause problems with injections if you get the needle in the wrong place - not likely during surgery I think. Overall that still sounds like a bit of trauma to the nerve but hopefully will recover fairly quickly. JB
If you didn't have numb fingers before surgery then really you should not have numb fingers afterwards. However some surgeons do seem to traumatise the nerve somwhat during surgery and that can manifest as numbness. Even if it's new after surgery I wouldn't start to worry about it until it has persisted for at least a couple of weeks.JB