New brace for conservative treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: preliminary results

BACKGROUND: Carpal canal syndrome is the most common peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities. There are several treatment options both surgical and conservative with demonstrated different short-term and long-term outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the symptom course of patients treated with Carpalello glove brace.METHODS: Fifty patients with 57 cases were divided by severity of EMG in mild, moderate and severe grade. They were assessed on the basis of their symptoms by telephone interview at 1 and 6 months of Carpalello use.RESULTS: In the mild group the average symptoms score passed from 2.71 to 1 after 30 days of brace use, maintaining the same score even at six months. After 6 months, the surgical indication was changed in 71.4% of the patients. In the moderate group, the average score improved from 3.97 at time zero to 3 at 30 days, and 2.8 at six months. In this group the surgical indication changed in 25% of cases. In the severe group the score changed from 4.28 to 3.2 symptoms at 30 days and 2.8 at six months, and the surgical indication changed in 28.5% of cases.CONCLUSIONS: Carpalello can be a valuable tool that can be used to reduce symptomatology while waiting for surgery or as a therapeutic attempt in the mild stage.