Milad Zarrin, PhD candidate,1,3 Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari, PhD,1,2 Maryam Saadat, PhD,,corresponding author3,4,* Mohammad Jafar Shaterzaedeh Yazdi, PhD,3,4 and Davood Shalilahmadi, MD⁵

Abstract

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy that has a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. Current physical therapy treatment options show limited effects or low-quality evidence, especially in the long term. To date, there has been little research to look at the effects of treating the cervical spine on decreasing symptoms distally to the carpal tunnel. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of cervical manual therapy plus conventional physical therapy on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Methods: This pilot pretest/posttest and six-month follow-up clinical study included 15 adult patients with CTS. For two weeks, each patient received 10 sessions of supervised intervention treatment. The efficacy of the therapies was assessed at baseline (T0), immediately after treatment (T1), and six months after treatment (T2). The visual analog scale (VAS), a symptom severity scale, the functional capacity scale of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ), the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, median nerve motor distal latency (mMDL), and median sensory nerve conduction velocity (mSNCV) were outcome measures.

Results: There were significant improvements in all measures between the baseline values at T0 and those recorded immediately after the treatment at T1 or six months later at T2 (p<.05).

Conclusion: This pilot study indicates that cervical manual therapy plus conventional physical therapy applied for two weeks improves clinical outcomes and electrodiagnostic findings in people with CTS.

Keywords: carpal tunnel syndrome, cervical spine, manual therapy, neck, rehabilitation

Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2023 Jun; 16(2): 12–28.

Published online 2023 Jun 1. doi: 10.3822/ijtmb.v16i2.815