The effect of radial shockwave on the median nerve pathway in patients with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the short-term effect of radial shockwave on the median nerve pathway as a new model method in patients with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome. METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial, 60 patients were randomly allocated into three equal groups. The first group received 1500 shocks on the carpal tunnel, the second group received 1500 shocks on the carpal tunnel and median nerve pathways, and the third group was the control group. In all three groups, patients received conventional physiotherapy for ten sessions. In addition, patients in experimental groups received four sessions of radial shockwave. Pain and paresthesia intensity, sensory and motor distal latency were evaluated as primary outcomes. Boston carpal tunnel Questionnaire scores were evaluated as secondary outcomes. Evaluations were performed at baseline, 1 and 4 weeks after the end of the treatment. RESULTS: Pain and paresthesia intensity and Boston questionnaire score significantly decreased in all three groups, but the greater improvement was noted in shockwave groups. Sensory and motor distal latency were only improved in shockwave groups. In terms of clinical and electrophysiological parameters, two groups of shockwaves showed similar results. CONCLUSIONS: Radial shockwave combined with conventional physiotherapy is an effective noninvasive treatment for mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome that produces greater and longer-lasting results than conventional physiotherapy alone. There were no differences observed between utilizing radial shockwave on the carpal tunnel or median nerve pathways on the palmar surface of the hand, in terms of clinical and electrophysiological measurements. Clinical Trial registration number The study was registered at https://fa.irct.ir/user/trial/49490/view (20200706048028N1) in date of 08/24/2021. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13018-022-02941-9.