Carpal tunnel syndrome
LLLT for carpal tunnel syndrome systematic review and meta-analysis
Bekhet AH, Ragab B, Abushouk AI, et al. Lasers in Medical Science. 2017.
A meta-analysis found grip-strength improvement but no significant pain, symptom severity, or functional-status advantage over placebo.
Evidence grade
low
Effect direction
mixed
Panel relevance
partially-replicable
Key findings
- The review included eight RCTs with 473 patients and 631 wrists.
- Primary outcomes did not favor LLLT over placebo.
- Grip strength improved versus placebo, but other outcomes were inconsistent.
Protocol details
| Wavelengths | Not reported nm |
|---|---|
| Irradiance | Not reported mW/cm2 |
| Fluence | Not reported J/cm2 |
| Session time | Not reported minutes |
| Frequency | Varied by trial |
| Duration | Varied by trial |
| Treatment area | Wrist/carpal tunnel region |
| Device type | Low-level laser therapy with or without splinting |
Caveats
- Evidence is mixed and outcome-dependent.
- Panel use is only an extrapolation from targeted clinical LLLT.