Application of hyperbaric oxygen in carpal tunnel syndrome

Application of hyperbaric oxygen in carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a single neurological disease caused by compression of the median nerve as it passes through the inelastic carpal tunnel. CTS is the most common nerve entrapment syndrome in clinical reports. It mostly occurs in people aged 30 to 60. The incidence of women is three times that of men. The diagnosis of CTS is mainly based on clinical symptoms and characteristic physical examination results. The diagnosis requires electrical diagnostic examination.

The cause of CTS is that the increased pressure in the CTS the median nerve to be compressed. The most common cause of increased pressure in the carpal tunnel is idiopathic peritendinous synovial hyperplasia and fibrosis in the carpal tunnel. Most of the manifestations are numbness or pain in the three radial fingers, weakness in holding objects, and aggravation at night or in the morning. Sometimes the pain may involve the forearm, but paresthesias only appear in the area innervated by the inferior carpal nerve.

The following is an example. A middle-aged woman has had numbness in her hands for more than 3 months. In addition to the numbness, she has recently started to feel pain. Her daily activities have been restricted, and she even wakes up with numbness and pain at night, so she can alleviate it by getting up and holding her hands frequently. After being diagnosed with CTS, conservative treatment has not been effective for nearly 3 months, so hyperbaric oxygen therapy was decided. She continued to undergo 3 courses of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The symptoms of numbness and pain in her hands improved significantly, and her hand strength was basically restored. The examination showed that the function of the her fingers and wrist joints had been restored.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment of CTS mainly lies in that hyperbaric oxygen can reduce the damage of pathological factors to neurons, promote the repair and growth of nerve tissue, accelerate the recovery of damaged nerve function, improve the microcirculation and blood perfusion of the injured site, and reduce peripheral nerve the edema of the damaged area improves the local micro environment.

It can be seen that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can significantly improve the clinical symptoms of patients with CTS and the neurophysiological indicators of the median nerve without obvious adverse reactions. Hyperbaric oxygen has a good effect on a variety of nerve injuries and is an important measure for conservative treatment.