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A randomized controlled trial: comparing extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus local corticosteroid injection for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome

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Abstract

Purpose

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) has been reported as a new therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, few studies have compared ESWT with the local corticosteroid injection (LCI).

Methods

In this study, a randomized controlled trial comparing 30 patients with ESWT and 25 patients treated with LCI was conducted. The clinical outcomes were obtained with tests including the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and paresthesia, the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BQ), and a nerve conduction study, before the study started and at three, nine, and 12 weeks after the start of the treatment.

Results

Significantly greater improvement in the VAS and BQ scores was noted for the ESWT group than for the LCI group (P < 0.05). For the nerve conduction study, there was a significant improvement in the median nerve sensory nerve action potential distal latency at the nine and 12-week follow-ups for the ESWT group.

Conclusions

ESWT is a useful noninvasive short-term treatment for mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome and elicits a better recovery than LCI does, but more research is needed to test the clinical outcomes of ESWT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ningbo University Medical School, Ningbo, 315000, China

    Dingli Xu

  2. Ningbo City Medical Treatment Center Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo, 315000, China

    Dingli Xu & Kaifeng Gan

  3. Ningbo No.6 Hospital, Ningbo, 31500, China

    Weihu Ma, Weiyu Jiang, Xundong Hu, Fangqian Jiang, Chengli Mao, Yang Wang, Lingyan Fang, Ni Luo, Haojie Li & Zhenqi Lou

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  1. Dingli Xu
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  2. Weihu Ma
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Correspondence to Kaifeng Gan.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of Ningbo medical center Lihuili Hospital and the Number is LH2017-012.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Xu, D., Ma, W., Jiang, W. et al. A randomized controlled trial: comparing extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus local corticosteroid injection for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. International Orthopaedics (SICOT) 44, 141–146 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-019-04432-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00264-019-04432-9

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