CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05343351Updated Feb 28, 2023

Effect of Out of Plane and In Plane Injection Techniques in Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

An interventional study of Technique of injection method in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Pain and Carpal Tunnel, sponsored by Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa. Completed at 1 site in Turkey. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-02-28.

Sponsored by Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of this study, using two different injection techniques,

  1. To evaluate the patients in terms of the pain they feel during the application of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) injection,
  2. Evaluation in terms of undesirable effects developing after injection,
  3. To evaluate the degree of pain/drowsiness, symptom severity and functionality, and median nerve diameter at the end of the first month after the injection, and to evaluate the relationship of these parameters with the pain felt by the patients during the injection.
Read the detailed description

Among the evaluated patients, the patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and accepted the carpal tunnel syndrome injection will be randomized into 2 groups using the random numbers table.

One group will be injected using the out-of-plane technique under ultrasound, and the other group will be injected using the in-plane technique. Patients will be evaluated before the treatment, at the 1st hour after the injection and at the end of the 4th week after the injection.

Randomization and injection of the patients will be done by Dr Gül Tuğba Bulut, while the evaluation of the patients and the sonographic evaluation of the median nerve will be done by Dr Alper Mengi.

Age, gender, education level, body mass index, duration of symptoms, dominant hand, injection hand, and carpal tunnel syndrome severity detected in EMG of the patients included in the study will be recorded.

The patients will be questioned about the pain they feel during the injection at the end of the 1st hour after the injection, while the degree of pain/numbness in the wrist and finger, symptom severity and functionality, and median nerve diameter are evaluated at the end of the 4th week before and after the injection.

Patients will be questioned about undesirable effects at the end of the 4th week after the injection.

02

Conditions studied

  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Pain
  • Carpal Tunnel
03

In context

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

589 studies on the registry are indexed under Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; 139 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 50 is below the median of 60 across 445 interventional studies indexed under Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Browse Carpal Tunnel Syndrome studies →

Lead sponsor

Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa is the lead sponsor of 680 studies on the registry; 208 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Age ≥18
  • Numbness and tingling in the median nerve innervation area with or without pain
  • Worsening of symptoms at night
  • Positive Tinel and/or Phalen sign
  • Symptom duration longer than 12 weeks
  • Electrophysiologically mild or moderate CTS being diagnosed.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of conditions such as cervical radiculopathy, polyneuropathy, brachial plexopathy, thoracic outlet syndrome that may mimic CTS
  • Presence of multiple entrapment neuropathy
  • Weakness in hand thumb abduction or opposition
  • Thenar atrophy
  • Presence of wrist corticosteroid and/or local anesthetic injection
  • Regular use of medical treatment such as oral corticosteroids or NSAIDs
  • Having entered a physical therapy program due to CTS in the last 6 months before the injection
  • A history of trauma or arthritis attack at the wrist level
  • Previous surgery due to CTS
  • Thyroid diseases, diabetes, chronic kidney failure
  • Having bifid median nerve, persistent median artery, ganglion cyst, tenosynovitis or tendinitis on wrist USG
  • Rheumatological disease (rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, systemic lupus) erythematosus, vasculitis, systemic sclerosis, dermatomyositis)
  • Presence of malignancy
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding mothers
  • Infection or skin lesion at the injection site
  • Use of wrist splints in the last 4 weeks
  • Allergy to corticosteroids or local anesthetics
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Out of Plane arm

    The patient group who was injected using the ultrasound-guided out of plane injection method.

    Other: Technique of injection method

  • Experimental
    In Plane arm

    The group of patients who were injected using the ultrasound-guided in-plane injection method.

    Other: Technique of injection method

Interventions

  • OtherTechnique of injection method

    In 'out of plane group', the ultrasound probe will be placed at the entrance level of the proximal carpal tunnel (scaphoid-pisiform plane), the ulnar edge of the median nerve will be taken to the midpoint of the probe, and then the needle will be inserted from the middle point of the probe with the out of plane method. Then the needle will be advanced towards the ulnar side of the median nerve and the injection content will be given into the tunnel. In 'in plane group group', the ultrasound probe will be placed at the proximal carpal tunnel entrance level (scaphoid-pisiform plane), it will be entered at a cross angle between the ulnar artery and the median nerve with the in-plane method, and be advanced under the median nerve, and then the injection content will be given into the carpal tunnel.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Assessment of pain during injection

    Patients will be asked to rate the average level of pain they feel during the injection as absent, mild, moderate, severe, and unbearable.

    Time frame: 1 hour

  2. Pain/Numbness Evaluation

    The severity of pain and numbness of the patients will be questioned by visual analog scale (VAS). A horizontal straight line 10 cm long will be used in the VAS assessment. The patient will be told that a value of 0 represents no pain and numbness, and a value of 10 represents the most severe pain and numbness he has ever felt. In each evaluation, the average of the day and night pain/numbness severity over the last 3 days will be questioned.

    Time frame: 3 days

  3. Evaluation of symptom severity and functionality

    The Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ) with Turkish validity and reliability will be used to evaluate the symptom severity and functionality of the patients. BCTQ is a self-filled questionnaire consisting of two parts: symptom severity scale (SSS) and functional status scale (FSS). Each item in both sections has five different answers that score between 1 and 5. The mean score is obtained by dividing the total score by the number of questions and ranges from 1 to 5, with a higher score indicating severe symptom. Average scores are calculated separately for symptom severity and functional status.

    Time frame: 3 days

  4. Evaluation of undesirable effects

    At the controls at the end of the 4th week after the injection, the patients had skin discoloration or fat atrophy, steroid exacerbation (transient pain that started at the 24th hour after the injection and lasted an average of 2-5 days after the injection), superficial infection and median nerve irritation (from the injection). Finger numbness or weakness lasting more than 2 weeks after injection, increasing compared to pre-injection) will be evaluated.

    Time frame: 1 day

  5. Sonographic evaluation of the median nerve

    Ultrasonographic evaluation will be performed with an 18-6 MHz superficial linear probe (Esaote MyLab Five LA435 Transducer). Fixed frequency and depth settings will be used for all measurements. During the examination, patients will be performed in a sitting position facing the clinician, with the elbow in 90° flexion, the forearm supinated, and the fingers in the semi-flexion position. The examination will begin by seeing the median nerve in the axial plane at the wrist localization, and the cross-sectional area of the median nerve (MSCA) will be measured with the probe at the level of the psiform and scaphoid bone. In the measurements, the hyperechoic sheath will be excluded from the drawing and the manual trace method available in the USG device will be used. Square millimeter (mm2) unit will be used for area values in all measurements. All measurements will be made in triplicate and the average of the three measurements will be taken.

    Time frame: 1 day

  6. Descriptive information

    Age, gender, education level, body mass index, duration of symptoms, dominant hand, injection hand, and CTS severity detected in EMG of the patients included in the study will be recorded.

    Time frame: 1 day

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Istanbul Training and Research Hospital
    Istanbul, Turkey
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 28, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05343351
Lead sponsor
Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa
Collaborators
Istanbul Training and Research Hospital
Responsible party
Alper mengi (Medical Doctor, Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 25, 2022
Start date
Apr 1, 2022
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2022
Completion
Feb 21, 2023
Last update
Feb 28, 2023

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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