Recently, a few small reports with short follow-up period have shown clinical benefits of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for peripheral neuropathy including one pilot study and one small, non-randomized trial in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Therefore, we conducted a randomized, single-blind, controlled trial to assess the 6-month effect of PRP in patients with CTS. Sixty patients with unilateral mild-to-moderate CTS were randomized into two groups of 30, namely the PRP and control groups. In the PRP group, patients were injected with one dose of 3 mL of PRP using ultrasound guidance and the control group received a night splint through the study period. The primary outcome measure was the visual analog scale (VAS) and secondary outcome measures included the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) score, the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve (MN), electrophysiological findings of the MN, and finger pinch strength. The evaluation was performed before treatment and at 1, 3, and 6 months post-injection. The PRP group exhibited a significant reduction in the VAS score, BCTQ score, and CSA of MN compared to the those of control group 6 months post-treatment (p < 0.05). Our study demonstrates that PRP is a safe modality that effectively relieves pain and improves disability in the patients with CTS.

Our study demonstrates that perineural injection of D5W is more beneficial than that of corticosteroid in patients with mild-to-moderate CTS at 4 to 6 months postinjection. Ann Neurol 2018;84:601-610.

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Three recent studies demonstrated the positive effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for treating carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, none have entirely proved the effects of ESWT on CTS because all studies had a small sample size and lacked a placebo-controlled design. Moreover, radial ESWT (rESWT) has not been used to treat CTS. We conducted a prospective randomized, controlled, double-blinded study to assess the effect of rESWT for treating CTS. Thirty-four enrolled patients (40 wrists) were randomized into intervention and control groups (20 wrists in each). Participants in the intervention group underwent three sessions of rESWT with nightly splinting, whereas those in the control group underwent sham rESWT with nightly splinting. The primary outcome was visual analog scale (VAS), whereas the secondary outcomes included the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ), cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve, sensory nerve conduction velocity of the median nerve, and finger pinch strength. Evaluations were performed before treatment and at 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the third rESWT session. A significantly greater improvement in the VAS, BCTQ scores, and CSA of the median nerve was noted in the intervention group throughout the study as compared to the control group (except for BCTQ severity at week 12 and CSA at weeks 1 and 4) (p < 0.05). This is the first study to assess rESWT in a randomized placebo-controlled trial and demonstrate that rESWT is a safe and effective method for relieving pain and disability in patients with CTS. Keywords: extracorporeal shock waves; carpal tunnel syndrome Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common peripheral entrapment neuropathy involving the compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. The average prevalence of CTS in the entire population is 3-4%, and it is predominantly observed in females (7% female and 1% male). 1 CTS is characterized by numbness, tingling, pain, or a burning sensation of at least two of the three digits supplied by the median nerve, although thenar muscle atrophy can also occur in the later stages. 2The risk factors for CTS include repetitive wrist stress, obesity, and pregnancy, whereas secondary causes include lesions within the carpal tunnel, metabolic causes, and infection.2 Unlike other progressive diseases, CTS is characterized by remission and recurrence; hence, its prognosis is often uncertain. Although there are many conservative forms of management, such as wrist splint, steroid injections, and therapeutic ultrasound, their effectiveness is typically insignificant or short-lived.3 Moreover, Gerritsen et al. 4 revealed a failure rate of 69% for wrist splinting in patients with CTS after a 12-month follow-up period. Moreover, 60-70% of conservatively treated patients with CTS remained symptomatic after 18 months. Extracorporeal shock waves (ESWs) are defined as a sequence of acoustic pulses characterized by a high peak pressure (100 MPa), fast pressure increase (<10 ns), short duration (...