A Brief Review of Recent Advances in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a complicated disorder which occurs when a localized median nerve is compressed in the carpal tunnel. It causes neurological symptoms, pain, and functional limitation of the wrist, which in turn leads to problems in daily routines and activities and reduced ability to work, ultimately negatively affecting the quality of life and public health status. In this regard, this review aimed to evaluate the effective diagnosis and conservative treatments of CTS. To conduct this review study, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Elsevier databases were searched using the keywords "carpal tunnel syndrome, treatment outcome, review, corticosteroids, and diagnosis". At last, 40 articles were selected and fully reviewed. Our results were obtained based on the results of the reviewed articles. Therefore, local and oral corticosteroid, splint, physical examination, and reported outcomes in surgeries revealed the effective diagnosis and conservative treatments in CTS. Based on the results, the CTS diagnosis should be based on the medical history of patient. In addition, physical examination must be done along with electrodiagnstic test. To reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate CTS, the use of local and oral corticosteroid could be effective according to the evidence. Only in some limited conflicting evidence, it was observed that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, vitamin B6, and diuretics were no more effective than placebo in relieving the CTS symptoms. Therefore, surgery may be the sole treatment that takes away the median nerve compression in moderately severe cases.