Wong 2003.
| Methods | Intra‐individual comparison (simultaneous bilateral release was performed) | |
| Participants | 30 participants with bilateral idiopathic CTS had simultaneous bilateral release (60 hands) 28 women and 2 men; mean age 47 years (35 to 73) Diagnosis was made clinically confirmed by a reduced conduction velocity. All participants had undergone conservative treatment without improvement. Simultaneous bilateral release was performed |
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| Interventions | 2‐portal ECTR (extrabursal Chow technique) vs limited OCTR (use of special device) | |
| Outcomes | The participants were reviewed at 2, 4, 8 and 16 weeks and at 6 and 12 months after surgery Grip and pinch strength, 2‐point discrimination (4 and 12 weeks, and 6 and 12 months), postoperative pain (VAS), complications |
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| Notes | ||
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Low risk | The dominant hand was randomly allocated to either ECTR or LOCTR using a random number table and the opposite hand was treated using the other technique |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Unclear risk | No information given |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes | High risk | No information given. Participants and personnel could not be blinded |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes | High risk | No information given. Participants and personnel could not be blinded |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Unclear risk | There was no reference to missing participants |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | High risk | Not all the outcomes were presented and valuable information was also missing (SDs or even mean values) |
| Other bias | Low risk | No baseline differences were found The authors declare no benefits in any form related to the study |
CTR: carpal tunnel release; CTS: carpal tunnel syndrome; ECTR: endoscopic carpal tunnel release; EMG: electromyography; FSS: Functional Status Scale; ITT: intention‐to‐treat; OCTR: open carpal tunnel release; SD: standard deviation; SSS: Symptom Severity Scale; VAS: visual analogue scale; RCT: randomised controlled trial