Adding Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy to Conventional Treatment Improves Pain, Function, and Electrophysiological Function in Females With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Study Summary

100 females with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) were randomized to receive conventional rehabilitation alone or the same program combined with extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) for 6 weeks. The primary outcomes of interest were symptom severity and functional status measured using the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire symptom severity scale (SSS) and function severity scale (FSS). Secondary outcomes included pain measured using the visual analogue scale (VAS), distal sensory latency (DSL), distal motor latency (DML), sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV), and motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV). Outcomes were assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks. Overall, the results of the study revealed greater improvements in SSS, VAS, DSL, DML, and SNCV when ESWT was added, while additional improvements in FSS and MNCV were not demonstrated based on the group-by-time interaction. These findings suggested that ESWT may provide additional symptomatic, analgesic, and sensory electrophysiological benefits when incorporated into conservative rehabilitation for CTS.