Outcomes following carpal tunnel release are generally favorable. Understanding factors that contribute to inferior outcomes may allow for strategies targeted at improving results in these patients. Our purpose was to determine if patients' underlying personality traits, specifically resiliency and catastrophization, impact their post-operative outcomes following carpal tunnel release.

A prospective case series was performed. Based on our power analysis, 102 patients were recruited. Patients completed written consent, the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) and the Brief Resiliency Scale (BRS). A single surgeon, or his resident under supervision, then performed an open carpal release under local anaesthetic. Our primary outcome measure was a repeat BCTQ at three- and six-months. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to assess the correlation between PCS and BRS scores and final BCTQ scores.

Forty-three and sixty-three participants completed the BCTQ at three and six months respectively. All patients showed improvement in their symptoms (p = 0.001). There was no correlation between patients PCS or BRS and the amount of improvement. There was also no correlation between PCS or BRS and the patients' raw scores at baseline or follow-up.

Patients self-assessed resiliency and degree of pain catastrophization has no correlation with the amount of improvement they have three or six months post-operatively. Most patients improved following carpal tunnel release, and patients with low resiliency and high levels of pain catastrophization should expect comparable outcomes to patients without these features.