长期使用计算机不会增加腕管综合征危险

http://www.100md.com 2001年7月26日 家庭医生医疗保健网

     路透社芝加哥健康消息 目前普遍认为，过度使用计算机会引起腕管综合征。但最近一期《神经病学》发表的一项研究发现，长期使用计算机，即使是一天敲键盘七小时，也不会增加腕管综合症的发病风险。过去从来没有人认真研究过这一课题，这是第一次关于腕管综合征和计算机使用之间关系的研究。领导这项研究的是美国明尼苏达州罗彻斯特梅奥医学中心的神经专科医生J·克拉克·斯蒂文。

    腕管综合征是一种以手腕部疼痛和麻木为代表的病症，是腕部压迫正中神经引起的，治疗上需要用夹板或注射可的松来减少肿胀，严重者需要手术减压。这种综合征在人群中很普遍，每十个人里面就有一人发病。

    研究人员对在亚利桑那州斯科达尔市梅奥医学中心附属机构工作的314名使用计算机的工作人员进行了调查，了解他们是否有手部发麻等腕管综合征常见症状。对其中声称有手部发麻症状的人，研究人员做了进一步的检查。部份人明确诊断没有患腕管综合征，其他人做了肌电图(EMG)测试。

    结果发现，只有27位(占10.5%)被访者符合腕管综合征的临床标准，其中9位(占3.5%)在肌电图检查中就被诊断患有腕管种综合征。

    史蒂文解释，计算机工作者长期坐着，手部重复敲键盘运动，经常会出现颈部、肩部、臂部和腕部疼痛，但这些症状并不是计算机工作者所特有的，体力劳动者如在肉类包装厂工作或经常使用冲击钻工作的人，也会有与腕管综合征的相关症状。看起只要是手部的重复性运动，都与腕管综合征有关系。

    Computer Users Not at Higher Risk of Carpal Tunnel

    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Heavy computer use does not increase the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition marked by pain and numbness in the hands and wrists, according to a study released Monday.

    Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said they were surprised by the findings that showed heavy computer use, even up to seven hours a day, did not increase a person‘s risk of developing the syndrome.

    ``We had expected to find a much higher incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome in the heavy computer users in our study because it is a commonly held belief that computer use causes carpal tunnel syndrome,‘‘ said J. Clarke Stevens, a neurologist at the prestigious clinic.

    The results of the study, the first to consider the association between the syndrome and computer use, were published in the June 12 issue of Neurology.

    ``The findings are contrary to popular thought but nobody has studied the problem carefully,‘‘ Stevens said. ``I‘d like computer users to know that prolonged use of a computer does not seem to lead to carpal tunnel.‘‘

    Because the syndrome is a common condition in the population -- one in 10 will develop symptoms -- some computer users will develop it, Stevens said.

    Investigators sent surveys to 314 computer using employees at the Mayo facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, inquiring about hand numbness and sensations of ``pins and needles,‘‘ common symptoms of the syndrome. Of the 257 people who responded, those who indicated symptoms were interviewed.

    Unless the patients were clearly diagnosable with a condition other than carpal tunnel, they were tested for the syndrome via electromyogram, an EMG, or a nerve conduction study.

    Only 27, or 10.5 percent, of the participants met clinical criteria for carpal tunnel, and in nine cases, or 3.5 percent, an EMG confirmed the syndrome.

    Carpal tunnel is a compression of the median nerve at the wrist and is treated by wearing a splint or an injection of cortisone to reduce swelling.

    Stevens noted that heavy computer users often get a lot of other pains in the neck, shoulder, arm and wrist, but most do not get the syndrome from using a computer.

    Repetitive motions in jobs outside the office, such as working in a meat packing plant or using a jackhammer, also have been linked to the syndrome.

    ``There have been a number of studies of factory workers and people in packing plants that suggest that type of repetitive motion does seem to be associated with carpal tunnel syndrome,‘‘ he said.

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