Comparison of the efficacy of a neutral wrist splint and wrist splint with lumbrical unit for the treatment of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome

Golriz, B; Bani Ismail, MA; Arazpour, M; Curran, S; Madani, SP; Hutchins, SW

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of a neutral wrist splint or a wrist splint with an additional metacarpophalangeal (MCP) unit on pain, function, grip and pinch strength in patients with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
Methods: Twenty four patients received conservative treatment using either the neutral wrist splint or wrist splint with the MCP unit for a period of 6 weeks. Primary outcome measures were pain, function, grip and pinch strength. Data was collected immediately before and after using the two types of splints at baseline (0 weeks) and 6 weeks. Statistical analysis was performed using the paired t-test and independent T-test.
Results: Compared to baseline, both the neutral wrist splint and the wrist splint with an MCP unit significantly decreased pain, increased function and pinch and grip strength. Comparisons of the two types of splints for grip (P =0.675) and pinch strength (P =0.650) revealed that there were no significant differences between the two after 6 weeks of wear. However, there were significant differences in pain levels (P =0.022) and the DASH score (P =0.027) between the two types of splints from baseline to 6 weeks.
Conclusion: The wrist splint with an MCP unit was more effective than the neutral wrist splint in pain reduction and improvement of function.

Citation

Golriz, B., Bani Ismail, M., Arazpour, M., Curran, S., Madani, S., & Hutchins, S. (2016). Comparison of the efficacy of a neutral wrist splint and wrist splint with lumbrical unit for the treatment of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. Prosthetics and Orthotics International, 40(5), 617-623. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309364615592695

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 20, 2015
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jun 17, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 17, 2019
• Journal: Prosthetics & Orthotics International
• Print ISSN: 0309-3646
• Electronic ISSN: 1746-1553
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 617-623
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0309364615592695
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0309364615592695
• Related Public URLs: http://poi.sagepub.com/
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