<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>
<bold>Aim of the study:</bold> To evaluate the sonoelastic response of the median nerve in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome following conservative rehabilitation with splint plus exercise regimens. <bold>Materials and methods:</bold> A total of thirty-five patients diagnosed with mild carpal tunnel syndrome and treated with splint plus exercise therapy; hand resting splint all day for 3 weeks and then only at nights along with nerve gliding exercises in 10 repetitions 3 times a day. The median nerve was evaluated clinically prior to the treatment and at week 6 of therapy using physical examination, electrodiagnostic neurophysiology tests and radiological imaging; Boston Scores, electromyogram, ultrasonography and sonoelastography. <bold>Results:</bold> Following the 6-week treatment protocol on 35 subjects with mild carpal tunnel syndrome, sonoelastography showed significantly softer median nerve, while the traditional parameters based on Boston Scores and cross-sectional area based on ultrasonography remained nearly unresponsive. Such early indication of biomechanical changes in the nerve may be of clinical importance if it can offer a prognostic value of the applied treatment, while tissue softening suggests the alleviation of nerve compression. <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Sonoelasticity of the median nerve can serve as a reliable marker for assessing therapeutic changes in median nerve stiffness and potentially the outcome early on in mild carpal tunnel syndrome.</p>
</abstract>

Aim of the study: To evaluate the sonoelastic response of the median nerve in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome following conservative rehabilitation with splint plus exercise regimens. Materials and methods: A total of thirty-five patients diagnosed with mild carpal tunnel syndrome and treated with splint plus exercise therapy; hand resting splint all day for 3 weeks and then only at nights along with nerve gliding exercises in 10 repetitions 3 times a day. The median nerve was evaluated clinically prior to the treatment and at week 6 of therapy using physical examination, electrodiagnostic neurophysiology tests and radiological imaging; Boston Scores, electromyogram, ultrasonography and sonoelastography. Results: Following the 6-week treatment protocol on 35 subjects with mild carpal tunnel syndrome, sonoelastography showed significantly softer median nerve, while the traditional parameters based on Boston Scores and cross-sectional area based on ultrasonography remained nearly unresponsive. Such early indication of biomechanical changes in the nerve may be of clinical importance if it can offer a prognostic value of the applied treatment, while tissue softening suggests the alleviation of nerve compression. Conclusions: Sonoelasticity of the median nerve can serve as a reliable marker for assessing therapeutic changes in median nerve stiffness and potentially the outcome early on in mild carpal tunnel syndrome.

Sonoelastic response of median nerve to rehabilitation in carpal tunnel syndrome

Journal of Ultrasonography

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Sonoelastic response of median nerve to rehabilitation in carpal tunnel syndrome"}

Aim of the study: To evaluate the sonoelastic response of the median nerve in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome following conservative rehabilitation with...

	Baseline Median (25%,75%)	Splint + Exercise Median (25%,75%)	p
Boston-S	31.50 (27.00,40.00)	30.00 (22.25,36.50)	0.04
Boston-F	23.00 (14.25,26.50)	24.00 (11.75,31.50)	0.19
Boston-T	50.50 (45.00,66.75)	40.25 (53.00,69.25)	0.32
CSA (cm²)	0.11 (0.08,0.13)	0.10 (0.08,0.13)	0.11
SP/MN SI	0.83 (0.33,1.66)	0.69 (0.31,1.17)	0.03

Sonoelastic response of median nerve to rehabilitation in carpal tunnel syndrome

Article Category: research-article

Publié en ligne: 15 juin 2020

Pages: 90 - 94

Reçu: 04 janv. 2020

Accepté: 26 févr. 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15557/jou.2020.0014

Mots clés
sonoelastography, ultrasonography, carpal tunnel syndrome, median nerve

© 2021 Polish Ultrasound Society. Published by Medical Communications Sp. z o.o.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Pre- and post-therapy assessments from a total of 35 patients

Sonoelastic response of median nerve to rehabilitation in carpal tunnel syndrome

Article Category: research-article

Publié en ligne: 15 juin 2020

Pages: 90 - 94

Reçu: 04 janv. 2020

Accepté: 26 févr. 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15557/jou.2020.0014

Mots cléssonoelastography, ultrasonography, carpal tunnel syndrome, median nerve

© 2021 Polish Ultrasound Society. Published by Medical Communications Sp. z o.o.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Pre- and post-therapy assessments from a total of 35 patients

Mots clés
sonoelastography, ultrasonography, carpal tunnel syndrome, median nerve