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Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery is associated with lower incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome

International Journal of Obesity volume 49, pages 1051–1055 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

Obesity is related with increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The effect of bariatric surgery (BS) on the incidence of nerve entrapments is undetermined. We aimed to evaluate the incidence of CTS following BS in a large cohort study.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study of patients with obesity who underwent BS was conducted. The incidence of CTS in the 5-years pre- and post BS was compared. Patients who developed CTS following BS were compared to those who did not.

Results

Six-thousand, one-hundred and twenty-four patients met the inclusion criteria. The average age was 41.2 (SD 12.9) years, most were female (68.6%). The average pre-operative BMI was 42.9 (SD 5.4). Most patients underwent restrictive surgery. The incidence of CTS at the 5-years prior to the BS was significantly higher than the post BS incidence, 8.4% versus 5.1% respectively (p < 0.001) despite the aging of the cohort. Patients who developed CTS following the BS were older and had a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus prior to the BS. They had a higher BMI and excess body weight at every time point measured and a lower BMI reduction. Weight regain was not associated with increased incidence of CTS. Finally, a direct correlation between excess weight loss to greater reduction in the incidence of CTS was noted.

Conclusions

BS was found to be associated with reduced incidence of developing CTS. There is a dose-response association where greater weight loss following BS is protective of developing CTS.

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Fig. 1: Study’s’ population.
Fig. 2: The relation between BMI and excess body weight changes following bariatric surgery, and the development of CTS.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from Clalit Health Services, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of Clalit Health Services.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics, Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Campus), Petah Tikva, Israel

    Tal Frenkel Rutenberg & Sorin Daniel Iordache

  2. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Tal Frenkel Rutenberg, Lihi Godny, Ran Rutenberg & Sorin Daniel Iordache

  3. Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Lihi Godny

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine, Rabin Medical Center (Beilinson Campus), Petah Tikva, Israel

    Ran Rutenberg

  5. St. Joseph’s Health Care London, London, ON, Canada

    Assaf Kadar

  6. Western University, London, ON, Canada

    Assaf Kadar

  7. Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Sigal Frishman

  8. Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Sigal Frishman

Authors
  1. Tal Frenkel Rutenberg
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  6. Sorin Daniel Iordache
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Contributions

Tal Frenkel Rutenberg: data analysis, interpreting results, writing of manuscript. Lihi Godny: study design, data acquisition. Ran Rutenberg: data analysis, review of manuscript. Assaf Kadar: study design, data acquisition. Sigal Frishman: review of manuscript, supervision. Sorin Daniel Iordach: study idea and design, interpreting results, review of manuscript, supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tal Frenkel Rutenberg.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of Beilinson Hospital.

Informed consent

Due to the retrospective nature of the study, inform concern was waivered by the institution review board.

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All authors have read the manuscript and gave their consent for publication.

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Frenkel Rutenberg, T., Godny, L., Rutenberg, R. et al. Bariatric surgery is associated with lower incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome. Int J Obes 49, 1051–1055 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-025-01733-5

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