This is a great question because this is something that probably hasn’t been discussed enough preoperatively. But, you can see people get carpal tunnel or cubital tunnel-type symptoms, I think, because we don’t make people wear slings. We quickly get them out of the slings to get their arm moving. We don’t see that as much.
But carpal tunnel is incredibly common. Three percent of the population already has it. When you have a big operation, you can get some swelling down the arm, which can cause impingement of the nerves in the hand, so you can get some tingling there.
Also, just the bleeding and swelling come down the arm. You’ll get some hand swelling and stiffness. The good news is it’s temporary. It goes away in a couple of weeks or months. And 95% of patients, there’s a really small subset. But we have to do something about it.
But you can get some swelling or tingling in the fingers after shoulder surgery temporarily in some people, and it’s due to just the swelling down the arm. The swelling causes compression on the nerves, which can cause some tingling.
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