• Plos One · Jan 2015

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    Ultrasound-Guided Pulsed Radiofrequency for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Study.

    • Liang-Cheng Chen, Cheng-Wen Ho, Chia-Hung Sun, Jiunn-Tay Lee, Tsung-Ying Li, Feng-Mei Shih, and Yung-Tsan Wu.
    • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Tri-Service General Hospital, School of Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital, Hualien County, Taiwan, Republic of China.
    • Plos One. 2015 Jan 1; 10 (6): e0129918.

    ObjectiveWe assessed the therapeutic efficiency of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) treatment of the median nerve in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).MethodsWe conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled, single-blinded study. Forty-four patients with CTS were randomized into intervention or control groups. Patients in the intervention group were treated with PRF and night splint, and the control group was prescribed night splint alone. Primary outcome was the onset time of significant pain relief assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS), and secondary outcomes included evaluation of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) results, cross-sectional area (CSA) of the median nerve, sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) of the median nerve, and finger pinch strength. All outcome measurements were performed at 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after treatment.ResultsThirty-six patients completed the study. The onset time of pain relief in the intervention group was significantly shorter (median onset time of 2 days vs. 14 days; hazard ratio = 7.37; 95% CI, 3.04-17.87) compared to the control group (p < 0.001). Significant improvement in VAS and BCTQ scores (p < 0.05) was detected in the intervention group at all follow-up periods compared to the controls (except for the severity subscale of BCTQ at week 1). Ultrasound-guided PRF treatment resulted in a lower VAS score and stronger finger pinch compared to the control group over the entire study.ConclusionsOur study shows that ultrasound-guided PRF serves as a better approach for pain relief in patients with CTS.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02217293.

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