BACKGROUND:
The most common compressive neuropathy affects the median nerve in the carpal tunnel; it is typically chronic and progressive. Acute carpal tunnel syndrome (ACTS), on the other hand, is a less frequently encountered surgical emergency that usually occurs in the setting of trauma, such as a displaced fracture of the distal radius or carpal dislocation. To our knowledge, there are only two cases of acute carpal tunnel secondary to gout reported in the literature, with both being outside of the USA and the last case being over 20 years ago. We reviewed the literature describing acute carpal tunnel syndrome (ACTS) caused by gout and present a recent case of atraumatic ACTS caused, in part, by a tophaceous gouty mass.
