Introduction:

The diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome is based on the patient's clinical signs and symptoms, supported by electrodiagnostic studies.

Objectives:

To determine the diagnostic performance of the clinical signs of carpal tunnel syndrome and the evaluation of a new model as a diagnostic proposal.

Methods:

A prospective study was carried out for diagnostic tests for carpal tunnel syndrome in patients who attended the hand surgery consultation: Tinel, Phalen, Elevation of hands, and a new proposal that we will call Elevation/Phalen.

Results:

Eighty eight (88) hands were evaluated in 47 patients with a mean age of 45 years. Tinel was positive in 63 (71.59%), Phalen in 67 (76.13%), Hand Elevation in 69 (78.4%) and Elevation/Phalen in 74 (84.09%). Regarding the pattern established for clinical comparison, the results were positive in 71 (80.6%) and negative in 17 (19.4%).

The clinical performance of Elevation/Phalen showed 88.8% of sensitivity and 78.6% of specificity, with 95.9% of positive predictive value.

Conclusions:

The Elevation/Phalen test is comparable to the classic Tinel, Phalen and Hand Elevation tests, therefore, it can be used for the clinical diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.

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