Does nerve healing keep pace with hand recovery after carpal tunnel surgery?

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age between 18 and 75 years. * Clinical and electrophysiological diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. * Scheduled to undergo primary carpal tunnel release surgery based on routine clinical evaluation. * Availability of a preoperative nerve conduction study. * Ability to understand and complete the study assessments and questionnaires. * Ability to read and understand Turkish. * Willingness to participate and provide written informed consent. * Ability and willingness to attend the planned postoperative follow-up assessments. For participants with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome who undergo unilateral surgery during the study period, only the operated hand will be included in the study. Two hands from the same participant will not be analyzed as independent observations. Exclusion Criteria: * Previous carpal tunnel release surgery on the study hand. * Planned revision carpal tunnel surgery. * Electrophysiological evidence of generalized polyneuropathy. * Another peripheral neuropathy affecting the median nerve or function of the study hand. * Active cervical radiculopathy or brachial plexopathy. * A central or peripheral neurological disorder that substantially affects upper-extremity function. * History of major trauma or surgery involving the study hand or wrist that may affect outcome assessments. * Active inflammatory rheumatologic disease. * Pregnancy. * Uncontrolled systemic disease that may interfere with surgery, assessment, or follow-up. * Cognitive or communication impairment that prevents completion of the study assessments. * Inability to complete the planned postoperative follow-up assessments. Participants with controlled diabetes mellitus will not be excluded solely because of diabetes. However, participants with electrophysiologically confirmed generalized polyneuropathy will be excluded. Diabetes status will be recorded and considered as a potential confounding variable in the analyses.