Key points from today’s guests:

Lauren Miller, had carpal tunnel surgery

• For years, his hands were falling asleep, especially while driving. Also, as a banjo player, playing was getting more difficult.
• Eventually, the pain in his hands was so bad, it would keep him up at night.
• Finally, Lauren saw a specialist, Dr. Charles Christopher Jehle at The University of Kansas Health System, who performed surgery on each arm – while Lauren watched.
• Lauren was very interested in the procedure and Dr. Jehle walked him through all of the steps.
• Surgery for both hands was successful and Lauren is working back into banjo-playing shape.

Jamie Shurtz, had ultrasound-guided carpal tunnel surgery

• Like Lauren, Jamie’s pain from carpal tunnel syndrome was so bad, she could not sleep.
• That was not good news for this working mom who finally sought treatment and was pleasantly surprised to find there was a new treatment that required a short recovery period.
• A new surgical technique uses ultrasound to release the ligament from the inside.
• There’s not even a stitch needed for this procedure and recovery is only about 48 hours versus several weeks with a traditional procedure.

Dr. Charles Christopher Jehle, hand and nerve microsurgeon, The University of Kansas Health System

• The carpal tunnel itself is an area within the wrist that's bounded by the bones that make up the wrist itself and then a ligament on top of that. We have nine tendons and one nerve that runs through there.
• When you get anything that increases swelling or increases the volume inside of that tunnel and the nerve inside of it, the area has issues.
• The longer the nerve is being pressed, the decreased blood supply to the nerve is what basically begins that nerve damage itself. So the longer the nerve has a decreased blood supply, the more damage it has.
• Symptoms usually starts with numbness or tingling. It's usually episodic when it first begins and oftentimes at night.
• If it's just kind of left to its own devices, and you get more and more swelling, it becomes continuous and that's when you start seeing more profound weakness and then some of the pain symptoms.
• There does seem to be some correlations with repetitive motions and certain movements. Some of the occupations that actually have a higher degree of carpal tunnel syndrome than even the office workers and typing are people who use vibratory equipment, such as construction workers.
• Carpal tunnel is extremely common. Probably about 10 percent of people have carpal tunnel symptoms sometime in their life, but there are several treatment options available.
  
  

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System

• The hospital COVID count for this week is down slightly to 15 inpatients from 21 last week.
• The CDC is recommending that those over 65 should make sure they get a second dose of the latest COVID vaccine at least four months since their last one.
• These vaccines have been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and severe disease.
  
  

Wednesday, July 17 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics With Doctor Stites. For elite athletes, sport psychology can give them an ede. We’ll meet a champion sprinter who knew the importance of therapy and finally found a therapist who understands what athletes face.

ATTENTION MEDIA: Please note access is with Microsoft Teams:

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 235 659 792 451
Passcode: 6CSfGE

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or call in (audio only)

+1 913-318-8863,566341546#   United States, Kansas City

TVU Grid link: UoK_Health_SDI

Restream links: Facebook.com/kuhospital

YouTube.com/kuhospital

Send advance questions to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.