Surgical Treatment for the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of the carpal tunnel syndrome: a review

“…There are three randomised controlled studies that compare surgical versus conservative treatment [40][41][42], two of which were included in a systematic Cochrane review [43]. In the studies included in the review [40,42], the non-surgical group had been treated by hand-wristforearm splinting for 4 or 6 weeks.…”

“…In the studies included in the review [40,42], the non-surgical group had been treated by hand-wristforearm splinting for 4 or 6 weeks. In the more-numerous, better-quality study, 71% of surgically treated patients experienced significant improvement after 3 months as compared to a 1.38 improvement (95% CI: 1.08-1.75) in favour of surgery [40].…”

Conservative treatment options for carpal tunnel syndrome: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials

“…Garland [20] mean age 47 years, 100 % female, mean (1) plaster-of-paris splinting of hand/wrist/arm Significantly more relief of symptoms in (2) duration of symptoms 4 months for 1 month (n = 11 patients) versus (1) after 1 year. No side effects in clinical and electrophysiological CTS (2) open operation (n = 11 patients) either group.…”

“…Splinting was compared with surgery in 1 low quality study [20]. No short-term follow-up measurement was performed, but after 1 year splinting was found to be significantly less effective than surgery in providing symptom relief, indicating limited evidence (level 3).…”

“…No side-effects were reported for steroid injections [9,22], ultrasound treatment [13] and splinting [20]. Minor side effects (e. g. nausea, abdominal discomfort, headache) were reported for diuretics [8,34], NSAIDs [8,10] oral steroids [8,25] and chiropractic treatment [10].…”