NCT01949493

Non-surgical Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by Means of Mechanical Traction

Study of the Effectiveness of Mechanical Traction as a Non-Surgical Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Compared to Care as Usual: a Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 181 (actual)
• Sponsor: Tilburg University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of mechanical traction in patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome compared to care as usual.

Detailed description

This randomized controlled trial will examine the effectiveness of mechanical traction compared to care as usual as a non-surgical treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). Patients diagnosed with CTS are recruited from the outpatient neurology clinic of VieCuri Medical Center in Venlo, The Netherlands. They will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Patients in the intervention group will receive 12 treatments with mechanical traction during six consecutive weeks. Patients in the control group will receive care as usual, which can include splinting, a corticosteroid injection, carpal tunnel release surgery or an expectant strategy. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months after inclusion.

Conditions

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	mechanical traction	Twelve treatments with mechanical traction using the Phystrac traction apparatus. The Phystrac provides traction to the wrist using weights between 1 and 18 kg. The weights provide a pulling force in line with the forearm. After 8 seconds the weight is lifted, and there is a rest period of 4 seconds. This cycle will be repeated 10 times. Another two sets of 10 traction movements will be applied with the wrist positioned in 30 degrees supination and 30 degrees pronation. In total, 30 traction movements will be applied during each treatment.
OTHER	Care as usual	Usual care provided by the neurologist (e.g. corticosteroid injection, wrist splint, carpal tunnel release surgery).

Timeline

• Start date: 2013-10-01
• Primary completion: 2016-06-01
• Completion: 2016-06-01
• First posted: 2013-09-24
• Last updated: 2016-12-09

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Netherlands