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TREATMENT OUTCOMES OF CORTICOSTEROID INJECTION IN PATIENTS WITH CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME AT THE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION HOSPITAL OF BINH THUAN PROVINCE
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Abstract
Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common entrapment neuropathy that significantly impacts patients' quality of life and imposes a considerable treatment burden. Corticosteroid injection has been demonstrated to provide rapid symptom relief; however, research data remains limited. Objectives: To describe the clinical characteristics and evaluate the treatment outcomes of corticosteroid injections in patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Materials and methods: A non-controlled interventional study was conducted on 40 patients (56 affected hands) at the Traditional Medicine and Rehabilitation Hospital of Binh Thuan Province from June 2024 to March 2025. Results: The average patient age was 58.85 ± 11.98 years, with a female-to-male ratio of approximately 3.4:1. Most patients had disease duration of less than one year (55.0%). The highest proportion of cases involved only the right hand (57.5%), followed by bilateral involvement (40.0%). Regarding motor symptoms, reduced grip strength was the most common (55.4%), followed by impaired fine motor skills and thenar muscle atrophy (both 41.1%), thumb opposition difficulties (39.3%), and hand tremors (28.6%). Phalen’s test was positive in 62.5%, Tinel’s sign in 51.8%, and Durkan’s test in 48.2% of cases. After one month of corticosteroid injection treatment, patients experienced significant improvement in symptoms such as numbness in the median nerve distribution, nocturnal paresthesia, and numbness during driving or working (p < 0.001). Both the VAS score and BOSTON symptom severity score showed marked improvement post-treatment, decreasing from 5.89 ± 1.99 to 0.30 ± 0.60 (p < 0.001) and from 42.25 ± 8.19 to 11.52 ± 1.33 (p < 0.001), respectively. Electrophysiological findings also showed statistically significant differences in DSLd, DMLd, DSLm, and DMLm parameters before and after treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Corticosteroid injection was found to be effective in relieving symptoms in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.
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Keywords
carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), corticosteroid injection, clinical characteristics
References
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