| Disease | A TWO-ARM, RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED. ONE HUNDRED PATIENTS (155 HANDS) WITH IDIOPATHIC MILD TO MODERATE CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 65 YEARS OLD WERE RANDOMIZED IN TWO PARALLEL GROUPS. THESE TWO GROUPS WERE TREATED DURING 4 WEEKS WITH TOPICAL PLACEBO OR LINSEED OIL - 5 DROPS, 2 X PER DAY ON THE SKIN OF THE AFFECTED (WRIST) AREA, IN ADDITION, A NIGHT WRIST SPLINT WAS PRESCRIBED FOR BOTH GROUPS. SYMPTOMATIC SEVERITY AND FUNCTIONAL STATUS WERE MEASURED USING BOSTON CARPAL TUNNEL QUESTIONNAIRE. IN ADDITION, MEDIAN SENSORY NERVE CONDUCTION VELOCITY, MOTOR DISTAL LATENCY, SENSORY DISTAL LATENCY AND COMPOUND LATENCY AS ELECTRODIAGNOSTIC PARAMETERS WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION PERIOD. SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT WAS OBSERVED REGARDING SYMPTOMATIC SEVERITY AND FUNCTIONAL STATUS IN THE LINSEED OIL GROUP COMPARED WITH THOSE IN THE PLACEBO GROUP. NO SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED FROM USING LINSEED OIL. LINSEED OIL COULD BE EFFECTIVE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF MILD AND MODERATE CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME, ESPECIALLY IN IMPROVING THE SEVERITY OF SYMPTOMS AND FUNCTIONAL STATUS. |