Abstract
PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that most patients that elect symptomatic treatment of de Quervain's disease experience symptom resolution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-three of 314 (26%) patients that elected initial symptomatic treatment of de Quervain's disease responded to a mail survey inquiring about symptom resolution, symptom duration, subsequent opinions and treatments, final impressions and comments. RESULTS: Seventy-five respondents (90.4%) reported resolution of the pain, including 58 of the 61 (95%) respondents that elected neither corticosteroid injection nor surgery. Among patients with symptom resolution without injection or surgery 48 of 58 (83%) recalled symptoms for fewer than 12 months. The differences in reported average time to symptom resolution were not statistically significant between patients that elected or did not elect a corticosteroid injection. CONCLUSIONS: Considered in the light of important limitations of this data including the reliance on patient recall and the limited response rate to the survey, the data are still intriguing. At least in one surgeon's practice, most informed patients initially elect symptomatic treatment, and most experience symptom resolution within one year.