Surgeries for carpal tunnel syndrome

• From 2023 to 2024, the number of operations per year increased from 7,400 to 8,400
• The change from 2023 to 2024 varied, ranging from a 79% increase in the number of procedures in Stavanger to a 23% decrease in Nordland
• For just over half of the operations, a neurographic examination was performed within a year prior to the surgery

A total of 8,400 carpal tunnel syndrome operations were performed in 2024, representing a 13% increase from the previous year. The annual number of operations was only slightly affected by the pandemic. There was a small decline in 2020, followed by an increase the year after.

There is considerable geographic variation in surgery rates. In the catchment areas with the highest rates, approximately 2.5 times as many procedures per 1,000 inhabitants are carried out compared to areas with the lowest rates. In 2024, the number of operations per 1,000 inhabitants ranged from 0.9 in Diakonhjemmet to 2.2 in Innlandet.

The Oslo region (Oslo University Hospital, Lovisenberg, and Diakonhjemmet) consistently had the lowest rates throughout the period. Innlandet had the highest rates during the entire period. In the catchment areas of Stavanger (+79%) and Telemark (+63%), the rates have increased significantly over the past year.

Women are operated on to a greater extent than men, and the proportion of procedures performed on women was 62% in 2024.

In 2024, 54% of patients underwent a neurographic examination within one year prior to surgery. This ranged from just over 33% in Fonna and Stavanger to just under 65% in UNN, Bergen, and Innlandet.

The analysis is based on data from the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR) for specialist healthcare services. The data includes activity in public hospitals, publicly funded private hospitals, and specialists in private practice under public funding contacts.

The sample consists of patients aged 17 years or older registered with a primary or secondary diagnosis of G56.0 in combination with:

• For hospitals - procedure codes ACC51, NDE11, NDE12, NDM19, NDM49, or NDL50
• For contracted specialists - the same procedure codes as for hospitals OR tariff code 140i

The place of treatment is divided into three categories:

• Local public, treated at one of the hospitals in the catchment area
• Other public, treated at a public hospital outside the catchment area
• Private, treated by a private hospital or a private specialist

Neurography includes the procedure codes ACFE05, ACFE15, ACFE39 and/or ACFE40, provided the neurographic examination was carried out 365 days or fewer prior to the operation. There are also patients who had neurography more than 365 days before surgery, but these are not included. For example, in 2024, there were 560 patients (6.7%) who underwent neurography between one and two years before the operation.

In order to compare the catchment areas and between years, the rates have been adjusted for gender and age. The adjustment was done using the direct method with the population in 2023 as the reference population.

SKDE is solely responsible for the interpretation and presentation of the data provided by NPR. FHI/NPR is not responsible for analyses or interpretations based on the data.

All of the data used in the charts for this analysis can be downloaded as a CSV file.