Factors associated with trigger digit following carpal tunnel release

Table 1 Descriptive statistics for open and endoscopic surgical groups, n (%)

	Total (n = 967)	Surgical group		Test statistics
		Open (160, 16.5%)	Endoscopic (807, 83.5%)
Age (16-94)	59.49 (14.33)	57.24 (15.28)	59.93 (14.10)	-2.171
Gender				1.312
Male	384 (39.7)	70 (43.8)	314 (38.9)
Female	583 (60.3)	90 (56.2)	493 (61.1)
Race				6.352
White	848 (87.7)	139 (86.9)	709 (87.9)
Non-White	71 (7.3)	20 (12.5)	51 (6.3)
Missing	48 (5.0)	1 (0.6)	47 (5.8)
BMI				0.282
< 25	126 (13.0)	22 (13.8)	104 (12.9)
25-30	251 (26.0)	39 (24.4)	212 (26.3)
> 30	579 (60.0)	97 (60.6)	482 (59.7)
Missing	11 (1.1)	2 (1.2)	9 (1.1)
Hand dominance				0.412
Right	550 (56.9)	69 (43.1)	481 (59.6)
Left	51 (5.3)	8 (5.0)	43 (5.3)
Missing	366 (37.8)	83 (51.9)	283 (35.1)
Diabetes mellitus				0.332
Yes	219 (22.7)	39 (24.4)	180 (22.3)
No	748 (77.4)	121 (75.6)	627 (77.7)
Rheumatoid				3.442
Arthritis
Yes	27 (2.8)	8 (5.0)	19 (2.4)
No	940 (97.2)	152 (95.0)	788 (97.6)
Smoking status				3.512
Yes	141 (14.6)	31 (19.4)	110 (13.6)
No	852 (85.3)	129 (80.6)	696 (86.3)
Missing	1 (0.1)		1 (0.1)
Hypothyroidism				1.032
Yes	113 (11.7)	15 (9.4)	98 (12.1)
No	850 (87.9)	145 (90.6)	705 (87.4)
Missing	4 (0.4)		4 (0.5)

¹Based on 2 sample t-test.

²Based on Chi-Square test excluding missing cases.

^aP value < 0.05,

^bP value < 0.01. Data is presented as mean (SD) for continuous variables or count (percentage) for categorical variables. BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Frequency and proportion for trigger digit diagnosis at < 6 mo, 6-12 mo, and > 12 mo for each surgical group, n (%)

Post-operative time interval	Total diagnoses	Surgical group		P value
		Open (n = 160)	Endoscopic (n = 807)
< 6 mo	12 (1.2)1	4 (2.5)1	8 (1.0)1	0.1212
6-12 mo	13 (1.3)1	3 (1.9)1	10 (1.2)1	0.4612
> 12 mo	22 (2.3)1	4 (2.5)1	18 (2.2)1	0.7742
Total trigger digit diagnoses	47 (4.9)1	11 (6.9)1	36 (4.5)1	0.2252

¹Percentage represents proportion of procedures that developed trigger digit.

²Based on Fisher’s Exact test.

Table 3 Trigger digit frequency and proportion by digit, n (%)

Digit	Frequency
Thumb	14 (21.88)
Pointed	6 (9.38)
Middle	18 (28.13)
Ring	12 (18.75)
Pinky	14 (21.88)
Total	64

Table 4 Multivariable logistic regression analysis predicting post-operative trigger digit development

Variables	Odds ratio	95%CI for odds ratio
		Lower	Upper
Age	1.004	0.982	1.028
Gender (Reference = male)
Race (Reference = non-white)	1.405	0.440	7.098
BMI (Reference = BMI < 25)
BMI: 25-30	1.392	0.488	4.740
BMI: > 30	1.389	0.542	4.480
Diabetes mellitus (Reference = no D.M.)	1.397	0.690	2.687
Rheumatoid arthritis (Reference = no R.A.)	0.372	0.003	2.811
Smoking status (Reference = non-smoker)	0.675	0.233	1.636
Hypothyroidism (Reference = euthyroid)	1.584	0.634	3.506
Surgical approach (Reference = endoscopic)
Gender surgical approach
Gender open	3.992b	1.070	21.618
Gender endoscopic	0.489b	0.241	0.971
Constant	0.017b

^bP value < 0.01. BMI: Body mass index; D.M.: Diabetes mellitus; R.A.: Rheumatoid arthritis.