Efficacy of focused shockwave therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe carpal tunnel syndrome: a preliminary study.
Pimpisa Vongvachvasin, Thitiporn Phakdepiboon, Waree Chira-Adisai and 1 others
PMID 38332536WHAT IT FOUND
Adding focused shockwave therapy to education, night splinting and exercises improved hand symptoms and function more than conservative care alone over 6 weeks in 24 participants with moderate-to-severe carpal tunnel syndrome.
Key findings
01At 3 and 6 weeks, the group receiving focused shockwave therapy plus conservative treatment had greater reductions in hand symptom and function scores than the conservative treatment group.
02Distal sensory and motor nerve latency showed a significant between-group difference at 3 weeks favouring focused shockwave therapy, but other electrodiagnostic measures did not.
03No adverse events were reported during the study period in either group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was small, with 24 participants, and the title describes it as a preliminary study. Follow-up was only 6 weeks, so there is no information about longer-term benefit or durability. There was no sham shockwave control, and participants knew which treatment they received. All participants were women, so the findings may not apply to men. The study included only moderate-to-severe carpal tunnel syndrome, and the authors note that severity may have influenced improvement. Diabetes was present in 1 participant in the shockwave group and 4 in the control group, although the paper reports HbA1c below 7% in all 5 affected participants. The authors note that age and symptom duration may influence outcomes and call for larger studies stratifying these factors.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that focused shockwave therapy alone treats carpal tunnel syndrome. It was given together with education, night splinting, and gliding exercises, and the control group received those conservative treatments alone. The study had 24 participants, only 6 weeks of follow-up, and no sham shockwave control.