Effectiveness of home exercise in pregnant women with carpal tunnel syndrome: Randomized Control Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a home exercise programme in pregnant patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

Methods: The randomised, single-blind, controlled clinical study was conducted at Vakif University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey, From December 2017 to June 2018 and comprised pregnant women with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) . Clinical evaluation of each patient was performed by a blind researcher and (EMG) Electromyography measurements were performed by another blind researcher. Patients were divided into two groups with normal and (mild or moderate) CTS based on EMG results and clinical examination. Patients with symptoms, clinical signs and CTS in EMG were included in group 1, while patients whose symptoms and clinical evaluation (such as Tinel, Phalen, Reverse Phalen and Durkan's test) were positive but not CTS in EMG were included in group 2. Exercise forms were given to both groups and they were asked to perform the exercises stated in the form in 3 sets each day and 10 repetitions in each set. The Sick Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire was administered face-to-face to collect data which was analysed using SPSS 22.

Results: Of the 33 subjects, 19(57.6%) were in patient group 1 and 14(42.4%) in control group 2. The overall mean age of the sample was 28.84±3.62 years. There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of symptoms and clinical tests (p>0.05). The symptom severity scale between the groups was significantly high in group 1 (p<0.05). Patients receiving treatment showed a decrease in symptom severity and functional capacity, but only the former showed a significant decrease in group 2 (p>0.05).

Conclusions: Nerve and tendon slip exercises for patients with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms were found to be simple and reliable methods that could be applied to patients to increase their functionality and to reduce the severity of the disease.