1287 A Comparison of Surgical Decompression and Steroid Injections to Treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract Introduction Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is caused by compression of the median nerve at wrist. It accounts for 90% all entrapment neuropathies, with a 7-16% in UK. has significant impact on patients’ daily lives. Clinically, CTS results paraesthesia, while extreme cases may involve muscular atrophy and weakness. There currently disparity between optimal treatments CTS. Therefore, this paper aims to identify treatment post-treatment BCTQ (Boston Tunnel Questionnaire) scores (including both functional symptomatic severity) 1, 3 6 months. Method The were sited from PubMed, Google Scholar University Dundee Library search engine entering key words such as “carpal syndrome”, “surgical decompression”, release” “steroid injection”. Means standard deviations pre- after months obtained. From this, forest plots constructed using software where steroid injection surgical decompression inputted separately, effect sizes then compared Results meta-analysis included reviewing 133 articles. size was determined random effects model. Steroid more effective than 1 However, months, effective. Conclusions Identification long-term relief through allows reduction symptom recurrence thus costly follow-up appointments. This study provides robust clinical findings