Efficacy of a Fabricated Customized Splint and Tendon and Nerve Gliding Exercises for the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial
By Brininger, Teresa L.; Rogers, Joan C.; Holm, Margo B.; Baker, Nancy A.; Li, Zong-Ming; Goitz, Robert J.; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 88, No. 11, pp. 1429-1435Publication Date: November 2007
Study compared the effects of a fabricated, neutral wrist and metacarpophalangeal (MCP) splint with an off-the-shelf wrist cock-up splint, with and without exercises, for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Sixty-one subjects with mild to moderate CTS were evaluated in an outpatients hand therapy clinic and divided into 4 groups that received the following interventions: (1) neutral wrist and MCP splint with no exercise, (2) neutral wrist and MCP splint with tendon and nerve gliding exercises 3 times a day, (3) wrist cock-up splint with no exercise, and (4) wrist cock-up splint with tendon and nerve gliding exercises. All subjects were instructed to wear the assigned splint every night for 4 weeks. Both splint groups improved over times, regardless of whether exercises were performed. CTS symptoms were reduced and functional status improved over 4 weeks, and the improvement was sustained for an additional 4 weeks. Further analysis suggested that the fabricated neutral wrist and MCP splint may be more effective than the off-the-shelf wrist cock-up splint.
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
