Effectiveness of stretching of the flexor retinaculum with ultrasonic therapy in the management of carpal tunnel syndrome

摘要

Aims u26 Objective: The objective of study was to compare the effectiveness of manual stretching of the flexor retinaculum with or without ultrasonic therapy. Methods: The study was started by selecting the 50 patients from the out patients department of Al-nafees Hospital AlipurFarash and National institute of Rehabilitation Medicine Islamabad with history of carpal tunnel syndrome. The 25 patients in experimental group were treated with manual stretching of flexor retinaculum and ultrasound and 25 patients of control group were treated with manual stretching of flexor retinaculum. Every session was started by assessment of improvement of the symptoms in each patient. Data was collected through Numeric pain rating scale, point Paresthesia assessment scale and muscle strength by hydraulic hand dynamometer. Independent sample t-test was used to analyze the data with p ≤ 0.05. Results: The mean age of subjects was 1.78±0.64 and 41 subjects have CTS of Right hand remaining 9 subjects were left handed. After the completion of the treatment program it was observe that there was no difference in the effectiveness of manual Stretching of flexor retinaculum with ultra sound therapy and manual stretching of flexor retinaculum alone. The NPRS, paresthesia and muscle stretch showed p≥0.05 between experimental and control groups. Conclusion: This study proved that manual stretching of the flexor retinaculum along with ultra sonic therapy have same affects as manual stretching of the flexor retinaculum alone.