Evaluation of the Role of Splint in Postoperative Symptoms and Complications of Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Abstract

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most common upper extremity neurological disorders that surgery is one of the treatment methods for these patients; Splints are routinely used on the patient's hand after surgery; However, due to the uncertainty of the results of splint use after carpal tunnel surgery and the high rate of carpal tunnel surgery, and considering the fact that so far a study on the effects of splint use after carpal tunnel surgery in our region as There is no orthopedic reference center in the northwest of the country; Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of splint in postoperative symptoms and complications in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. Materials and Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed during 2009-2010 with the participation of 30 candidates for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome surgery in hospitals affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences; Candidate patients with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome underwent surgery, and after surgery, a splint was applied to one patient's hand (for two weeks) and a normal bandage (for two weeks) was applied to the other hand; Patients' symptoms were compared in both hands using VAS and Boston instruments; Data were analyzed using ANOVA and t-test in SPSS22 software. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Evaluation of patients' symptoms (movement limitation, disease severity and pain) in the first week showed no statistically significant difference between hand with splint and hand without splint up to one year after surgery (P <0.05); This means that patients' symptoms (movement limitation, disease severity and pain) in the group that had the splint were non-significant less than the group that did not use the splint after surgery.