by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Carpal tunnel release

Ask during the case

  1. Before incision, on the marked palm: "Draw Kaplan's cardinal line for me. Where's the hook of the hamate, where does the recurrent motor branch usually project, and why is my line ulnar to the thenar crease?"
  2. With the ligament exposed: "What's the first structure under this ligament, which side of it do we cut, and what are the three classic courses of the motor branch?"
  3. At the distal edge: "What's in this fat, and how do we know the release is complete, distal and proximal?"

Point at: the distal edge of the TCL with the fat pad over the arch, then the median nerve under the divided ligament, while they name it.

End of day: "Redraw the carpal tunnel slice with the release, then draw Kaplan's line and the incision on your own palm." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.