Endoscopic carpal tunnel release: The voice of polite dissent

It is ironic for us that our own studies, showing that neurolysis of the median nerve does not confer benefit in the primary OCTR, have been cited frequently as a reason for not needing to visualize the median nerve and that this indirectly has supported ECTR. Our recognition that even OCTR can cause significant complications that may not be able to be corrected, however, makes us very respectful of carpal tunnel release, a procedure that has been called the simplest of all operations. We, therefore, reject any modification that in any way presents more risk to even a single patient.