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Ultrasound therapy adds no benefit to splinting in carpal tunnel syndrome
Author(s) -
Jothi Kamalakannan P.,
Bland Jeremy D. P.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.26651
Subject(s) - carpal tunnel syndrome , medicine , ultrasound , wrist , therapeutic ultrasound , median nerve , carpal tunnel , randomized controlled trial , splints , surgery , physical therapy , radiology
Therapeutic ultrasound has been suggested as a treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), but existing trial evidence is of poor quality and inconclusive. Methods We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of therapeutic ultrasound in mild to moderate CTS. Forty patients were treated with wrist splints plus either real or sham therapeutic ultrasound and followed for 1 year posttreatment. The primary outcome was change in symptom severity scale score. Secondary outcomes were functional status scale score, nerve conduction studies, and ultrasound imaging of the median nerve. Results Both groups showed significant clinical and neurophysiological improvement at 6 and 12 months compared with baseline. There were no significant differences between groups at any time. In a multivariate analysis, the only independently significant predictors of the primary outcome were pretreatment symptom severity and additional treatments during follow‐up. Discussion We found no clinically significant benefit from ultrasound treatment for CTS.