Platelet-rich plasma may Improve mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome: Study

Previous studies support the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for those with CTS undergoing non-operative management. However, data on the effect of PRP in either nerve conduction studies (NCS) or the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the MN in CTS remain unclear. Therefore, researchers of Ireland conducted a study to perform an updated systematic review with meta-analysis on trials focusing on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), NCS and CSA measurements of those who underwent PRP injection for mild to moderate CTS versus a control.

In this systematic review & meta-analysis, researchers reviewed MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus databases in June 2020 and included a total of 8 prospective studies on the use of PRP in the non-operative management of CTS versus control with a mean follow-up time of 3.9 months. They included data of 404 patients from 8 studies for the analysis. They used Qualitative statistical analysis for systemic analysis and Review Manager for meta-analysis.

Key findings of the study were;

• Upon analysis, the researchers found that the use of PRP in CTS improved symptoms and functional outcomes compared with controls.
• They also found that the PRP resulted in significantly smaller CSA (9.65 mm2) than controls (9.95 mm2).
• However, they found no corresponding improvement in either motor (distal motor latency: 4.9 m/s verses 5.1 m/s) or sensory results (sensory nerve conduction velocity:33.5 m/s verses 34.3 m/s)of NCS with PRP.

The authors concluded, "This study indicates that there may be a potential role for the use of PRP in the non-operative management of mild to moderate CTS results in improvements in pain scores, functional outcomes as well as CSA measurements of the MN at short-term follow-up. However, PRP does not result in improvements in NCS."

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DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jor.2021.05.004