The Evidence Is Otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 50-6-225(E)(2). Stone v. City of Mcminnville, 896

This workers' compensation appeal has been referred to the Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court in accordance with Tenn. Code Ann._ 5-6-225 (e)(3) for hearing and reporting to the Supreme Court of findings of fact and conclusions of law. The plaintiff appeals the trial judge's decision that the defendant suffered the work-related injury of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome which resulted in a 12 percent permanent partial disability to each arm. We affirm the judgment of the trial court. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e) (1999) Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Chancery Court is Affirmed BYERS, SR.J., in which DROWOTA, C.J., and LOSER, SP.J., joined. David T. Hooper, of Brentwood, Tennessee, for Appellant, Alcoa Fujikura, Ltd. N. Evan Harris, of Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee, Kenneth Anderson. MEMORANDUM OPINION Review of the findings of fact made by the trial court is de novo upon the record of the trial court, accompanied by a presumption of the correctness of the finding, unless the preponderance of the evidence is otherwise. Tenn. Code Ann. _ 5-6-225(e)(2). Stone v. City of McMinnville, 896 S.W.2d 548, 55 (Tenn. 1995). The application of this standard requires this Court to weigh in more depth the factual findings and conclusions of the trial courts in workers' compensation cases. See Corcoran v. Foster Auto GMC, Inc., 746 S.W.2d 452, 456 (Tenn. 1988). FACTS The defendant was fifty years of age at the time of this trial. He is a high school graduate and he attended two years of college studying automotive technology. He testified at trial that he began working for the plaintiff's company, Dixie Wire, as a utility operator in 1993. As a utility operator, the defendant testified that his duties included some repetitious work with his hands and arms. In 1997, the defendant began working as a PVC extruder operator for Dixie Wire. He testified that his duties in this position involved quite a bit more use of his hands, wrists, and arms. Outside of his employment at Dixie Wire, the defendant also laid carpet for supplemental income. He testified that from 1993 to when he performed his last carpet job in 1999, he performed a total of 38 carpet jobs, averaging about six hours of carpet work per month. He testified that he never had any problems with his wrists or hands while performing carpet work. In 1997, while working as a PVC extrude operator, the defendant began to notice numbness and tingling in his hands and wrists. He went to see Dr. Darrell G. Arnett but was not treated for the numbness and tingling at that time. The defendant testified that his hand and wrist problems abated for some time after that. In 1998, while still working as a PVC extruder operator for Dixie Wire, the defendant's problems with his hands going numb reappeared and worsened. He saw Dr. Arnett again on January 22, 1999, and Dr. Arnett diagnosed the defendant with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. The defendant then saw Dr. Thomas E. Tompkins on June 29, 1999. Dr. Tompkins concurred with the diagnosis of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and recommended the defendant have surgery. The defendant was at first reluctant to have surgery, but after more problems at work with his hands going numb he decided to have the surgery, after which he returned to work. MEDICAL EVIDENCE The medical evidence for the purposes of the issues raised in this trial was presented by the depositions of Dr. Darrell E. Arnett and Dr. Thomas E. Tompkins. Dr. Arnett, an internal medicine specialist in Nashville, testified that he first saw the defendant on August 14, 1997. At that time, the defendant complained of weakness and paresthesias.1 Dr. Arnett testified that the defendant next visited him on January 22, 1999, at which time the defendant complained of his hands going numb 15 to 2 times daily. At that time, Dr. Arnett testified, he diagnosed the defendant with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Dr. Arnett did not form any opinion as to causation at that time, but later at deposition, when given the defendant's full history, Dr. Arnett testified that it was his opinion that the defendant's work at Dixie Wire was 1Paresthesias is numbness and tingling of the arms and legs. -2-