Carpal tunnel syndrome in administrative workers of the Universidad de Cartagena, Colombia

Introduction: occupational medicine and occupational health, when they try theconsequences that have the use of the computer in special the mouse, the keyboardand the handwritten work, they have checked that with the time, it generates symptomswith the time that affect the health, labor performance and the productivity of thecompany, while they cause lesions and sequels in the worker.Objective: to determine the clinical prevalence of the Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)between the administrative workers of a public university.Methods: descriptive study by means of a socio-demographics survey and clinicalmanifestations of CTS designed for the study, autocompleted and applied forconvenience to 174 administrative workers of the Universidad de Cartagena, Colombia.To those who referred suggestive symptoms of STC, Tinel test, Phanel test and pressuretest were done in the carpal. There was considered STC to the presence of painfulsymptomatology and to the presence of positive result in the three clinical tests.Results: in the study, 174 workers were included. Average age: 41.7 ± 9.0 years old.Average antiquity in the job for the women: 12.1 years old and for men 8.9 years. 31(17.8%) expressed to have painful symptomatology in hands. After the applicationof the three clinical tests, a clinical prevalence of STC of 4.5% (8 of 174 workers)was estimated. All the affected workers of STC according to clinical examination werewomen.Conclusion: clinical prevalence of STC in a group of administrative workers of aColombian public university was of 4.5%. The prevalence of SCT is of large variability.Rev.cienc.biomed. 2012;3(1): 254-259RESUMEN:Introducción: la medicina del trabajo y la salud ocupacional, al tratar las consecuenciasque tiene el uso del computador en especial el mouse, el teclado y el trabajo manuscrito,han comprobado que estos con el tiempo generan síntomas que afectan la salud,el rendimiento laboral y la productividad de la empresa, mientras causan lesiones ysecuelas en el trabajador.Objetivo: determinar la prevalencia clínica del síndrome de túnel del carpo entre lostrabajadores administrativos de una universidad pública.Material y método: estudio descriptivo a través de una encuesta de datos sociodemográficos y manifestaciones clínicas del síndrome del túnel del carpo (STC), dise adapara el estudio, auto diligenciada y aplicada por conveniencia a 174 trabajadoresadministrativos de la Universidad de Cartagena, Colombia. A los que refirieron síntomassugestivos de STC se les realizaron en ambas manos las pruebas de Tinel, Phanel yPresión en el carpo. Se consid