Effectiveness of neural mobilization and ultrasound therapy on pain severity in carpal tunnel syndrome

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of neural mobilization and ultrasound therapy on pain severity in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 48 CTS patients at the Physiotherapy Department IPM&R, DUHS between 23rd January 2017 and 22nd July 2017. The CTS patients were randomly allocated into 2 equal groups by simple randomization method. Group 1 received neural mobilisation; Group 2 received ultrasound therapy with a predetermined intensity. A total of 12 sessions were given over a period of 4 weeks. Pre and post intervention data were collected from both groups on Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to measure pain. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Comparisons between post test results of both groups were done by using paired sample t-test with a p-value < 0.05 considered as significant. Results: It was found that the 79% (19 cases) and 21% (5 cases) in Group 1 (Neural Mobilization), who prior to the treatment had faced moderate and severe pain, respectively, all experienced successful treatment. Indeed, after treatment 100% (24) of the cases only experienced mild pain, indicating successful treatment. For Group 2 (Ultrasound Therapy), 54% (13) and 46% (11) of cases were with moderate and severe pain before treatment; after administering the treatment 20% (5 cases) had mild pain and 80% (19 cases) had moderate pain. Conclusion: Neural mobilization for median nerve is more beneficial than ultrasound therapy in reducing pain intensity and functional limitations due to CTS.