NCT07484100

Efficacy of Proximal Median Nerve Release

Efficacy of Operative Versus Conservative Treatment in Proximal Median Nerve Compression

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 160 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Tampere University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

A multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial which determines the efficacy of proximal median nerve release in patients with persistent proximal median nerve compression. The primary outcome is patient reported improvement of symptoms on a 7-point Likert scale at 6 months after the randomization to treatment group.

Detailed description

Carpal tunnel surgery is one of the most common surgeries in upper extremity. Most patients benefit from carpal tunnel surgery, but some patients complain weakness and pain symptoms after surgery. According to a case series by Özdemir et al. (2020), after carpal tunnel surgery up to 13% of patients were diagnosed with proximal median nerve compression. Proximal median nerve compression is a poorly known and recognized condition that is likely to be underdiagnosed. Surgical treatment has become more common in recent years even though the effect of surgical treatment is unclear at the moment. The planned multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial determines the efficacy of proximal median nerve release in patients with persistent proximal median nerve compression. The primary outcome is patient reported improvement of symptoms on a 7-point Likert scale at 6 months after the randomization to treatment group.

Conditions

• Carpal Tunnel Surgery
• Median Nerve Compression
• Median Nerve Entrapment

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Proximal median nerve release	Participants randomized to operative treatment will be scheduled for surgery. During surgery, the proximal median nerve compression will be released in a manner deemed best by the treating surgeon. Patients randomized to surgery will also receive conservative management following surgery.
OTHER	Physiotherapy	Participants randomized to conservative treatment will receive information about median nerve compression and written instructions for self-directed nerve stretching exercises. There will be one supervision visit with a physiotherapist at the beginning of the treatment period.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-03-01
• Primary completion: 2036-12-01
• Completion: 2041-07-01
• First posted: 2026-03-19
• Last updated: 2026-03-19

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Finland