Study of Night-time and Full-time Wrist Splinting Compared to No Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Adults

What this Trial Is About

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common nerve compression disorder in the upper limbs, causing symptoms like pain, numbness, and tingling in the fingers, often worse at night. This trial aims to compare the effects of wearing a wrist splint at night only, full-time day and night splinting, and no treatment on symptom relief. The study also looks to identify which patients benefit most from splinting and whether a positive response reduces the need for surgery. The study is a randomized cross-over trial conducted in Finland with 110 participants. Participants will experience all three treatment periods in a random order wearing a neutral-positioned wrist splint at night for six weeks, wearing the splint both day and night for six weeks, and a six-week no-treatment control period. Each treatment period is separated by a three-week washout phase, making the total treatment sequence last 24 weeks after randomization. In addition, participants will perform self-administered stretching exercises throughout the study and avoid any other medical interventions such as steroid injections or surgery during the trial. During the study, participants will complete self-report questionnaires electronically to assess symptom changes using the 6-item CTS Symptoms Scale and the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire at multiple time points, including during and after each treatment period and up to one year after randomization. Researchers will monitor overall improvement, quality of life, adverse effects, need for surgery, and any escape treatments over the one-year follow-up. The study provides detailed monitoring of symptoms and function to evaluate the benefits of different splinting schedules.

Effect of Night-time and Full-time Splinting for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome