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There should be no long-term consequence from splitting the transverse carpal ligament. Patients do sometimes have some post-operative pain in the region of the incision from the transverse carpal ligament release, but that’s common. One of those problems is what’s called “pillar pain”. Pillar pain is tenderness in the palm – actually not right around the incision itself, but kind of on the outside – more in the bony region of the palm. What pillar pain is, is it’s pain in those bones near the carpal tunnel after surgery. I personally do not see it that commonly (and I do a lot of carpal tunnel surgery) but it’s something that is pretty easily identifiable when patients come in after surgery and they have pain in the palm that’s not right around the surgical incision. The good news is: generally that resolves with time and perhaps with some hand therapy.
