Carpal Ligament Rejoining?
I had carpal tunnel release just over 2 weeks ago, 26 March. The wound looked neat when completed, with 3 stitches; CT symptoms ceased immediately The surgeon used a tourniquet, and in the two or three days afterwards, the hand became very swollen, and subsequently bruised heavily, which didn't worry me much, as bruising fades anyway. The stitches were removed on 10 April by a practice nurse, at which time it was discovered that the wound had healed - but unusually, the sides had healed separately, not rejoined, so there is now a fairly deep groove instead of a flat scar-development area.
My understanding was that (assuming that the wound healed normally, ie. with sides fused back together) the two sides of the transverse carpal ligament would start to rejoin, leaving a bit more room for the carpal nerve, and thus removing the symptoms.
But as the two sides of the wound are not joined, clearly the two ends of the ligament can't rejoin either.
Is this a common result? If the ends of the ligament can't rejoin, will this mean a reduced grip in the hand from now on? Or would an option be to have the wound re-cut, with the hope that the sides might join together, if given a second chance?
Have to regard the operation as a success, as CT symptoms ceased immediately, but wondering about long-term possibilities.
The ligament is a separate structure to the skin so what happens to the two structures is not necessarily related. Curiously no-one really knows what happens to the transverse capral ligament after it is divided. I suspect that in a few people it does re-form and that that accounts for some of the late recurrences after carpal tunnel surgery but in most people it may be that the 'gap' just gets filled in with scar tisue. Some people are troubled by reduced grip after surgery and that can be a permanent feature. I think it's hard to judge quite what has happened to your scar without seeing it, but in any case it will probably remodel considerably over a period of months. JB