Dry Needling and Rehabilitatin Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

August 26, 2025 updated by: Musa Güneş, Karabuk University

Dry Needling in Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Dry needling is used for myofascial release. However, its effectiveness in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is not well known. It is thought that dry needling may also be an effective treatment for CTS by providing relaxation in the fascial tissue. Therefore, this study will examine the effects of dry needling treatment on pain, function, range of motion, proprioception and disability in patients with CTS.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common entrapment neuropathy in the society, which develops due to compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel. With the compression of the median nerve, a pain, numbness and tingling sensation spreading to the hand and wrist affects daily living activities and reduces the quality of life. Thickening and myofascial restriction in the carpal tunnel area also contribute to this situation. For this reason, various treatment methods have been developed for CTS, ranging from conservative treatment to surgery. Dry needling is also an alternative treatment method that can be used for CTS. Dry needling allows the fascial tissue to loosen and re-enter the healing process, leading to a decrease in pain and an increase in quality of life. However, its effectiveness in patients with CTS is unknown. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of dry needling in patients with CTS.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

78

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Volunteering to participate in the study.
  2. Being between the ages of 18-65.
  3. Being diagnosed with mild or moderate stage CTS as a result of the electroneurophysiological test.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Having additional neurological, rheumatological and orthopedic disorders.
  2. Having had previous hand surgery.
  3. Having an additional acute neck, shoulder, elbow and hand problem.
  4. Having a BMI of 40 kg/m2 and above.
  5. Being pregnant.
  6. As a result of the electroneurophysiological test, the data related to the median nerve are at a severe level.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment Group
In addition to the exercise given to the control group, the treatment group will receive dry needling in the carpal tunnel area, 2 days a week for 3 weeks, for a total of 5 sessions.
Other: Dry needling
In addition to stretching, nerve mobilization and tendon gliding exercises, a total of 5 sessions of dry needling will be performed for fascial mobilization, 2 days a week for 3 weeks.
Active Comparator: Control Group
The control group will be taught and asked to perform stretching, nerve mobilization and tendon-shifting exercises for 3 weeks.
Other: Control group
The physiotherapist will teach stretching, neuromobilization and tendon shifting exercises and will be asked to do them regularly for 3 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain severity
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
It will be evaluated with the Visual Analogue Scale. The scale ranges from 1 to 10 at 10 mm intervals. 0 indicates absence of pain and the highest value of 10 indicates extreme pain.
Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Wrist range of motion
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Wrist flexion, extension, ulnar deviation and radial deviation joint range degrees will be measured using a universal goniometer.
Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Position sense
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
In the evaluation of joint position sense (proprioception), wrist extension, elbow flexion and shoulder flexion movements will be evaluated with an inclinometer. An increase in deviation from the target angle indicates a worsening of position sense.
Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Severity of symptoms
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
The patients' CTS-related symptom severity and functional status will be evaluated with the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire. The severity of the patient's strain is scored between 1-5. Higher scores indicate greater disability.
Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Hands activity level
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Duruöz hand index will be used to evaluate hand-related activity limitations. The survey yields a total score of 0-90, with a higher score indicating greater activity restriction.
Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
Nerve cross-sectional area
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention
With ultrasonography, the doctor will measure the median nerve cross-sectional area of the individual and the distance between the median nerve flexor retinaculum.
Baseline and 3 weeks post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Karabuk University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Fidan Yılmaz, MsC, Pursaklar State Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Emime EMİRMAHMUTOĞLU, Bachelors, Pursaklar State Hospital
  • Study Director: Banu Gökçen BAYDOĞAN TAN, MD, Pursaklar State Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 5, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 5, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 5, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 10, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 3, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 26, 2025

Last Verified

August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Karabuk-1

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

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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