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Page 4 of 6 Cabrejo et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2023;10:1 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2022.30

Table 1. Demographics of participants in the study
SCTR only SCTR + Fat grafting P-value
Age (mean) 57 55 0.542
Male (%) 50 55 0.737
Right (%) 69 55 0.332
Diabetes (%) 38 29 0.521
Motor Latency (mean) 4.6 5.4 0.194

Table 2. Outcome of the treatments of recurrent carpal tunnel
No improvement in symptoms Improvement in symptoms
SCTR only 50.0% 50.0%
SCTR + Fat grafting 8% 92%

This initial data demonstrate a positive experience utilizing fat grafting as an adjunct to recurrent carpal
tunnel release. There are gaps in the data, for example, the first recurrence is about 6 years after the first
surgery, while the data provided only involve more than one year of follow-up. At this time, there is a
statistically significant difference in the outcomes between the two groups, and these differences may
disappear over time. The clinical symptomatology, including numbness and tingling, loss of sensation,
muscle weakness, Phalen’s sign and Tinnel’s sign, was present in all cases, but improvement in symptoms
was inconsistently documented and a detailed comparison could not be provided; overall, the patient’s
symptoms improved. This study provides preliminary data that a simple adjunct can improve outcomes;
therefore, we consider it worthy of further evaluation with a randomized controlled trial.

DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Department of Surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for their
continued support.

Authors’ contributions
Made substantial contributions to conception and design of the study and performed data analysis and
interpretation: Rosen J, Cabrejo R
Performed data acquisition and provided administrative, technical, and material support: Rosen J,
Cabrejo R, Podsednik A

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
None.

Conflicts of interest
All authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
The retrospective review of data was approved by Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Institutional
Review Board, IRB#020000917.