The effect of ultrasound therapy on nonspecific carpal tunnel syndrome

Abstract EN

Objective : This study was undertaken to assess the role of ultrasound (US) in treatment of mild to moderate idiopathic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

CTS is a frequent hand problem with different treatments, nonsurgical and surgical. Study design : Eighty hands (24 patients with both hands” involvement and 32 patient with one hand involvement) were examined with electroneurography at baseline.

Motor and sensory latency, wrist sensory nerve conduction velocity and compound latency of median nerve were evaluated in each case. Intervention : By double-blind Sham control, 40 hands (24 hands of patients with bilateral involvement and 16 hands of patients with unilateral involvement) were treated with continuous US, 0.5 w /cm2 for 5 minutes daily.

in 10 sessions (5 sessions / week).

Indistinguishable Sham US applied to the other 40 hands.

After one month of treatment, electroneurography was repeated and severity of complaints was qualified.

Also after one month and six months of treatment, patients were asked about satisfaction of treatment.

The score of subjective symptoms rating was assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and electroneurographic measures. Results : Improvement was significant in actively treated patients compared With Sham control for both subjective symptoms [paresthesia (p < 0.001) and pain (P < 0.001) paired t-test], and electroneurographic variablse [motor distaL latenc (p < 0.05), sensory distal latency (P < 0.01) and wrist sensory nerve conduction velocity (P < 0.001)The results also showed that after one month, satisfactory improvement or complete, remission was 72.5% and at six months, it was 55% in the treatment group and 27.5% and 22.5% in the control group. Conclusion : This investigation revealed that US treatment of mild to moderate CTS was effective by clinical and urophysiological Assessments .There was satisfying short (1month) to medium term effects (6 months) in the patients