Telerehabilitation in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Effectiveness of a Multimodal Telerehabilitation Program Combining Pain Neuroscience Education and Therapeutic Exercise for Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a compressive peripheral neuropathy characterized by pain, tingling sensation and paresthesia in the territory of the median nerve. These symptoms cause significant functional impairment that affects patients' quality of life. Pain neuroscience education (PNE) combined with therapeutic exercise (TE) has shown good results in patients with chronic pain, but the effects of this multimodal treatment via telerehabilitation have not been studied in patients with CTS. Telerehabilitation has demonstrated clinical and functional outcomes as effective as face-to-face interventions, being a good alternative to improve accessibility to rehabilitation care in a context of pandemic and social distancing. The purpose of this study is to provide coordinated, patient-centered care by implementing a Telerehabilitation model for patients with severe CTS. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a multimodal therapy program (TE plus PNE) versus a unimodal treatment (TE) in patients with CTS.

A Randomized Controlled Trial, simple-blind and multicenter study will be conducted. Patients will be randomly assigned to the multimodal treatment group (TE plus PNE) or to the unimodal treatment group (TE). At admission, an investigator blinded to treatment assignment will conduct data collection. The measurements will be the following outcomes: a) Pain Catastrophizing Scale; b) Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia-11; c) Numerical Rating Scale (NRS); d) Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire; e) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; f) Quality of Life, using the EQ-5D instrument; g) Patient's global impression of change; h) Katz Diagram; These evaluations will be performed again at week 6 and 12.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Over 20 years of age, severe CTS medical diagnosis, duration of symptoms for more than three months, access to a smartphone with internet, and acceptance to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to understand instructions, non-controlled mental health pathology, cognitive problems and previous surgery in the upper limb.