Abstract:Objective To study the characteristics of nerve electrophysiology in different TCM syndrome types of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS). Methods From January to September 2017, 80 patients with CTS treated in Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangdong Province (“our hospital” for short) were selected as research objects. According to different TCM syndromes, the patients were divided into cold dampness blocking collaterals group (38 cases) and deficiency of qi and yin group (42 cases). In addition, 40 normal persons who received physical examination in our hospital at the same time were taken as control group. British Medelec Synerg / evoked potentiometer was used to detect the conventional nerve electrophysiology of the three groups. The motor nerve conduction velocity (MCV), compound muscle action potential (CMAP), sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) and distal motor latency (DML) and the SNCV, DML of ulnar nerve in the three groups were measured. Results The levels of MCV and CMAP in deficiency of qi and yin group were lower than those of cold dampness blocking collaterals group and control group, and the CMAP of cold dampness blocking collaterals group was lower than the control group, the differences were all statistically significant (all P < 0.05). The levels of SNCV of finger 1 to wrist and finger 3 to wrist in deficiency of qi and yin group were lower than those of cold dampness blocking collaterals group and control group, and cold dampness blocking collaterals group was lower than control group (all P < 0.05); the DML in deficiency of qi and yin group was higher than the cold dampness blocking collaterals group and control group, and cold dampness blocking collaterals group was higher than the control group (all P < 0.05). The differences of SNCV and DML levels of ulnar nerve in the three groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Conclusion There is a significant difference in median nerve MCV, CMAP, SNCV and DML levels in CTS patients with cold dampness blocking collaterals type and deficiency of qi and yin type, the above indexes can be detected in clinic, which are beneficial for TCM syndrome differentiation of CTS patients.