TREATMENT OF CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME WITH SERIAL LOCAL STEROID INJECTIONS AND WRIST SPLINTING
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common tunnel neuropathy. Wrist splinting and local injection of corticosteroids (CS) into the carpal tunnel are used as conservative therapy for mild to moderate CTS. Such treatment not only reduces the severity of symptoms, but also improves the functional state of the median nerve. At the moment, recommendations about the frequency of local administration of the CS in CTS are not defined; in practice injections are most often repeated as demand. According to the data of previous studies, the maximum positive effect from a single local administration of the CS with CTS develops in the first two months. In our work, we compared the efficacy of a series of three local CS injections performed with an interval of 2 months and a single CS injection in combination with wrist splinting in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate CTS. Clinical, neurophysiological and ultrasound parameters were assessed. Serial application of local injection of CS compared with a single dose is more effective in assessing clinical symptoms and sensor and motor conduction along the median nerve. There were no significant differences between the groups in the amplitude of motor and sensory responses, as well as in the cross-section area of the nerve at the entrance to the carpal tunnel.