Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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In the present investigation the pain reduction effects of a physical therapy technique will be compared to those produced by the absence of treatment, in subjects who suffer the signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Detailed Description
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The present randomized clinical trial will perform a comparison of the pain reduction effect produced by the application of the median nerve neural mobilization technique (a non pharmaceutical physical therapy treatment), to the pain reduction effect produced by the total absence of treatment in subjects who suffer carpal tunnel syndrome. Functionality of the affected upper limb will be evaluated and compared. Subjects will be invited to participate and randomly allocated to 2 different groups.

Official Title
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Physical Therapy Versus Control in the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Conditions
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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Median nerve neural mobilization


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Participants must be medically diagnosed with unilateral carpal tunnel syndrome (with confirmative electrodiagnostic findings). Full understanding of written and spoken Spanish (language). Participants must freely consent to participate. The presence of positive Phalen an Tinel sings. The presence of carpal tunnel syndrome signs and symptoms Exclusion Criteria: The lack to meet inclusion criterions, the presence of cognitive impairment, kinesiophobia tumors, cancer, recent (affected) upper limb surgery or trauma, pregnancy, , deformities of the (affected) upper limb, recent skin injuries or infections (in the affected upper limb), autoimmune inflammatory conditions or flu type symptoms, allergy to gabapentin, and also: participants must not be (during the present investigation) under any type of pain reducing treatment (conservative, homeopathic, invasive or not invasive).

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 70 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Median nerve neural mobilization<br>Non pharmaceutical, non invasive, physiotherapy technique; which consists of a passive and repetitive upper limb movement that seeks to induced median nerve gliding and incursions against surrounding connective tissue. Subjects will be treated 5 days per week during a total time lapse of 6 weeks. | Other: Median nerve neural mobilization<br>* Manual therapy maneuver performed in the upper limb.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control group<br>Waiting list control group. Participants that belong to the no intervention arm will be assigned to a waiting list to receive treatment. The participants will not receive treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome during a time lapse of 6 weeks. After this period of time, participants will begin the best treatment available. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Distal upper limb pain | Assessed through the visual analog scale (VAS). The VAS is a psychometric response scale. It is a measurement instrument for subjective characteristics or attitudes that cannot be directly measured.The VAS is the most frequently used method to assess pain intensity. The scale will be displayed as a horizontal 100-mm line labelled at each end by descriptors such as 'no pain' (the minimum and best outcome possible) and 'worse pain ever' (maximum and worst outcome possible). The participant will mark the line to indicate pain severity. | : Changes from baseline (measured immediately before the application of each treatment) at 40 minutes after the application of treatment. Measures at baseline and after treatment will be performed 1 day a week during 4 weeks. | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Upper limb function | Assessed through the quick Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand questionary (QuickDASH), which is a shortened version of the 30-item Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) instrument.The instrument administered to the participants will be a self-report questionnaire, that will rate the difficulty and interference of daily life on a 5 point Likert scale. At least 10 of the 11 items must be completed for a score to be calculated and the scores range from 0 (no disability) to 100 (most severe disability). | Changes from baseline (measured immediately before the application of the first treatment), and at 40 minutes after the application of the last treatment. | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Pain management, Physiotherapy, Manual therapy, Median nerve neural mobilization, Neural mobilization