Effectiveness of High-intensity Laser Therapy in Combination with Conventional Conservative Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Compared with Conventional Conservative Treatment Alone in Clinical Outcomes and Electrophysiologic Parameters: An Experimental, Non-randomized Clinical Trial Single-blind Study
Keywords:
high-intensity laser therapy, carpal tunnel syndrome, numbness, pain, electrophysiologic parametersAbstract
Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of the combination of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) with conventional conservative treatment for individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) compared to conventional treatment alone.
Study design: An experimental study using non-randomized clinical trials in a single-blind study.
Setting: Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinic, Saraburi Hospital.
Subjects: Patients diagnosed with CTS classified as minimal, mild, or moderate, based on the modified neurophysiologic grading system.
Methods: The 60 participants were divided equally into two groups, a HILT treatment (experimental) group and a conventional conservative treatment (control) group. The participants freely choose their own treatment group. Clinical outcomes and electrophysiological parameters were measured before treatment and five weeks after treatment. Results were compared between the groups.
Results: At baseline, none of the demographic, clinical, or electro-physiologic parameters were statistical significantly different between the two groups with the exception of the chief complaint and the sensory nerve action potential amplitude (SNAP amp). Repeated-measures analysis of variance found a significant group-by-time interaction among the numeric rating scale of numbness (NRS numbness), the numeric rating scale of pain (NRS pain), the Boston questionnaire symptom severity score (BQSSS), the Boston questionnaire functional severity score (BQFSS), sensory nerve action potential peak latency (SNAP PL), sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV), median-ulnar sensory latency difference to the ring finger (Median vs. Ulnar), and compound motor action potential onset latency (CMAP OL).
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the addition of HILT to conventional conservative treatment is an effective and noninvasive treatment method for minimal, mild, and moderate CTS.
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