Injection close to the carpal tunnel should be first line treatment

Several treatments are used to treat the carpal tunnel syndrome, including different techniques for injecting corticosteroid. In a randomised clinical trial in patients with the carpal tunnel syndrome Dammers et al (p 884) investigated the effects of an injection with steroids close to the carpal tunnel. A month after treatment 77% of participants in the intervention group had no or only minor symptoms, and after a year half of the group still needed no treatment. The authors conclude that as few patients improved in the control group a single injection with 40 mg methylprednisolone close to the carpal tunnel, which is easy to carry out and safe, may result in long lasting improvement in a large proportion of patients and should be considered before surgical decompression.

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Relevant Article

Injection with methylprednisolone proximal to the carpal tunnel: randomised double blind trial

J W H H Dammers, M M Veering, and M Vermeulen
BMJ 1999 319: 884-886. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]