Perineural 5% dextrose versus corticosteroid injection in non-surgical carpal tunnel syndrom treatment.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: <p>We aimed to investigate the difference of clinical and electrophysiological improvement between perineural corticosteroid injection therapy (PCIT) and perineural 5% dextrose injection therapy (5%PDIT) in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).</p>.

METHODS: <p>Total of 92 wrists that were diagnosed as mild-to-moderate idiopathic CTS and completed their follow-up were included in our study. The severity of pain, symptom severity and functional status were asses&shy;sed by visual analog scale (VAS) and the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) scores for treatment effectiveness. Randomized wrists were administered PCIT or 5%PDIT accompanied by ultrasound guidance. VAS, BCTQ scores and the electro&shy;physiological study repeated before and after treatment at the 1st and 6th months after perineural injection therapies (PITs) were recorded.</p>.

RESULTS: <p>Compared with baseline data, within groups there was significant improvement in VAS, BCTQ severity and function scores at 1st and 6th months follow-up (all p &lt; 0.001). Considerable advance were detected in the median sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) when pretreatment values were compared with posttreatment first month in both groups (p = 0.01; p &lt; 0.001, respectively). No significant change occurred in median distal motor latency (DML) values between the 1st and 6th months in the groups (p = 0.095; p = 0.113, respectively). No significant difference was observed bet&shy;ween 5%PDIT and PCIT groups.</p>.

CONCLUSION: <p>Clinical and electrophysiologic improvement in CTS began from 1st month after PCIT and 5%PDIT. At the 6th month follow-up of the patients, 5%PDIT and PCIT had similar therapeutic effects. As a result, we can consider the replacement of PCIT with 5%PDIT in mild-to-moderate CTS patients especially in those who are hesitant because of the corticosteroid&rsquo;s adverse effects.</p>.