Hyperthermia As A Conservative Treatment For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A Randomized "Sham" Controlled Trial

Overview

The purpose of this study is to verify the short-term effects of hyperthermia (HT) in pain relief and in functional impairment in patients affected by mild to moderate idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome. A single blind randomized sham-controlled trial was performed. A 23 patients were affected by idiopathic CTS, 11 of them were affected by bilateral CTS. the intervention consists of Hyperthermia device treatment, treated for 20 minutes per session, a total of 8 sessions. Primary outcome is pain (Visual analogic scale).

Background: Non-surgical treatment is generally administered to patients with mild to moderate symptoms. Many of these treatments used heat modality. Hyperthermia is a relative recent device which produces deep heating. Objective: The purpose of this study is to verify the short-term effects of hyperthermia (HT) in pain relief and in functional impairment in patients affected by mild to moderate idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome. Design: A double blind randomized sham-controlled trial. Setting: Outpatient physical therapy, institutional clinic. Participants: 23 patients were affected by idiopathic CTS, 11 of them were affected by bilateral CTS. Intervention: Hyperthermia (HT) device treatment, treated for 20 minutes per session, a total of 8 sessions. Measurement: Primary outcome is pain (Visual analogic scale). Secondary outcomes were self-reported pain intensity and physical functioning questionnaire (Levine/Boston), ultrasonographic (median nerve cross sectional area mnCSA) and neurophysiological data.

Conditions