A randomized controlled trial: comparing extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus local corticosteroid injection for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome

Effectiveness of focused extracorporeal shock wave therapy in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome

“…It has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and proliferative effects [10][11][12][13][14][15] and it has also been proven to have effects for the reinnervation of peripheral nerves [16][17][18]. Therefore, both fESWT and rESWT, have received increased attention in the treatment of CTS and several studies have already yielded partially positive effects [19][20][21][22][23]. Xu et al demonstrated significantly greater improvement in visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Boston carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire (BCTQ) in the ESWT group compared to the local corticosteroid injection group [19].…”

“…Therefore, both fESWT and rESWT, have received increased attention in the treatment of CTS and several studies have already yielded partially positive effects [19][20][21][22][23]. Xu et al demonstrated significantly greater improvement in visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Boston carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire (BCTQ) in the ESWT group compared to the local corticosteroid injection group [19]. Wu et al reported positive results after a treatment with rEWST.…”

Letter to the editor regarding “A randomized controlled trial: comparing extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus local corticosteroid injection for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome”

“…Another query is, in Xu's study, left or right hands carpal tunnel syndrome are not indicated [1], we wonder whether non-dominant hand will cause better prognosis or not, cause in Tang's study the patients with severe CTS achieved a complete resolution in the non-dominant hand in a shorter time compared with the dominant one, and the symptoms diminished faster in the non-dominant hand after the release of CTS in patients with severe CTS [3].…”

“…We read with great interest the article of Xu et al [1] titled "A randomized controlled trial: comparing extracorporeal shock wave therapy versus local corticosteroid injection for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome" in a recent issue of the journal. I have some queries on the article.…”

“…In statistical analysis part, Xu et al used paired-sample t tests to compare the outcomes of each follow-up and pretreatment visit between the two groups [1]. It is well known that paired-samples t test can be used only when both groups have the same number of samples [2].…”