Dorsovolar Kinesiotape in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Is Dorso-Volar Kinesiotape Added to the Home Exercise Program Effective in the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?-Prospective Randomized Controlled Study

This study aimed to compare the short- and medium-term efficacy of dorso-volar kinesiotape (KT) added to home exercises (HE) with sham-KT and HE alone in the treatment of mild or moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in terms of pain, symptom severity, function, grip strength, and electrophysiological parameters.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: home exercises; Other: kinesiotape

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Deince
    • Kocaeli, Deince, Turkey
      • Health Sciences University, Kocaeli Derince Training and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• pain or numbness radiating to the palm for at least 6 weeks,
• at least one positive Tinel's, Phalen's, or carpal compression test on physical examination, and
• mild/moderate CTS on EMG examination.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Metabolic disease (diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease),
• systemic or malignant disease, history of trauma, fracture or surgery to the wrist,
• physical therapy programs, surgical procedures, injections or KT applications to the wrist for CTS treatment in the past year,
• severe thenar atrophy,
• C6-C7 radiculopathy among CTS differential diagnoses,
• cervical spondylosis, thoracic outlet syndrome, entrapment of the median nerve above the wrist,
• polyneuropathy or traumatic injury to the median nerve,
• rashes or open wounds on the skin of the wrist and forearm that could prevent treatment with kinesiology taping

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: home exercises	Other: home exercises; home exercises
Experimental: sham-KT and home exercises	Other: home exercises; home exercises; Other: kinesiotape; The button hole technique was used for area correction during the KT application (Figure 1). Two I-tapes were applied, one from the medial epicondyle to the proximal phalanx on the palmar side and the other from the lateral epicondyle to the proximal phalanx on the dorsal side. The area where the phalanges are located was marked, and two hole was drilled in the center.After cleaning the skin with alcohol, the tape to be applied to the palmar side was passed over the 3rd and 4th fingers, and the patient was asked to perform radial deviation and wrist extension
Experimental: dorso-volar KT and home exercises	Other: home exercises; home exercises; Other: kinesiotape; The button hole technique was used for area correction during the KT application (Figure 1). Two I-tapes were applied, one from the medial epicondyle to the proximal phalanx on the palmar side and the other from the lateral epicondyle to the proximal phalanx on the dorsal side. The area where the phalanges are located was marked, and two hole was drilled in the center.After cleaning the skin with alcohol, the tape to be applied to the palmar side was passed over the 3rd and 4th fingers, and the patient was asked to perform radial deviation and wrist extension

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Electrodiagnostic Evaluation	Superficial recording electrodes were placed in the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscles (recording stimulus distance 5 cm) for median nerve motor conduction and in the abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles (recording stimulus distance 5 cm) for ulnar nerve motor conduction.Superficial recording electrodes were placed on the 3rd finger for median nerve sensory conduction (recording stimulus distance 13 cm) and on the 5th finger for ulnar nerve sensory conduction (recording stimulus distance 11 cm).The ground electrode was placed between the recording and stimulus electrodes for all electrophysiological tests.Sensory latency, amplitude, and conduction velocity of the median nerve and motor latency, amplitude, and conduction velocity were recorded	30 minutes
Hand Strength	A Jamar hand dynamometer (Baseline ® hydraulic hand dynamometer, Irvington, NY, USA) was used to measure handgrip strength.	10 minutes
Pain Evaluation	A 10-point visual analog scale (VAS) was used to rate pain. Patients were asked to rate the pain they felt at rest, at night, and with movement with a number ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (very severe), VAS movement, VAS night, and VAS rest	5 minutes
Finger Strength	A pinch meter (Baseline ® hydraulic pinch gauge, Irvington, NY, USA) was used to evaluate lateral grip strength (LGS) and pinch grip strength	10 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Selcuk University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): July 29, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 11, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 16, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 18, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 29, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2024
• Last Verified: January 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: pain; muscle strength; electromyography; kinesiotape; median neuropathy; carpal tunnel syndromes
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Nervous System Diseases; Wounds and Injuries; Disease; Neuromuscular Diseases; Mononeuropathies; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; Median Neuropathy; Nerve Compression Syndromes; Cumulative Trauma Disorders; Sprains and Strains; Syndrome; Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2023/11-08

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No