Developing a Non-Human Primate Experimental Model for Studying Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Abstract

This study investigated changes in median nerve conduction velocity (NCV) over several weeks of exposure to a voluntary, moderately forceful, repetitive pinching task performed for food rewards by a small sample of young adult female monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Sensory NCV, derived from peak latency, decreased significantly in the working hands of three of the four subjects. The overall decline in NCV was 25–31% from baseline. There was no decrease in NCV in the non-working hands. The results demonstrate a temporally unambiguous relationship between exposure to a moderately forceful, repetitive manual task and development of median mononeuropathy. This study contributes to the pattern of evidence of a causal relationship between manual work and significant median nerve impairment (carpal tunnel syndrome in humans). In the future, such a model could be used to assess dose-response relationships between physical risk factors and carpal tunnel syndrome.