1) How severe is my condition?
2) What stage is my condition? (see the excellent post on this on this forum)
3) What mechanisms have been excluded? How?
4) What level is the problem and how have you determined this?
5) What is the probability of worsening? Over what time period?
6) What is the expected outcome of the intervention you propose?
7) What is the probability of recovery with and without your intervention? Over what time period?

It is suprising how few folks come away with good responses to these questions. See #5 below


As you participate in this process you might benefit from some medical maxims that deal with confusing data, such as that which surrounds this condition.

1) When you go to the barbershop, you get a haircut.
Not a shampoo and a set, see me in 3 weeks.

2) Surgical maxim 2, "If there is more than one approach to a condition, nothing is making any difference."
Do you put a flat tire on a special diet, even though somebody, somewhere,just put air in his and it got better?

3) You can always make things worse.

4) The doctor gets paid, regardless of outcome.

5) Q: Why do doctors have such short necks?
A: Face palms to the ceiling and shrug.

6) God heals them, I just send the bill.

7) Q: How many software engineers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: That's a hardware problem.

The reason these maxims are of concern is that the data on Cubital Tunnel/Ulnar neuropathy is surprisingly soft. Too many variables: Contributing conditions, structural variations, vascular variations, neuroanatomic variations, variable time and status at presentation, variable assessment of disability, lack of premorbid baseline, variable interventions, best studies have been small, criteria for intervention have subjective variables, criteria for effect is not standardizeed, no Randomized Controlled Trials.

Hard to invoke science here, so listen carefully to the data and keep your eyes wide open. Ask a LOT of questions.

If they really were that confident about what they know, why did they need to have two people agree on which arm to place the x before the operation?

Just some thoughts