https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4650-3426
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ABSTRACT
Background
The effectiveness of Manual Therapy (MT) in thumb carpometacarpal osteoarthritis (OA) is unclear.
Objective
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of MT for functional outcomes in patients with thumb carpometacarpal OA.
Design
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Methods
An electronic search was performed in the Medline, Central, Embase, PEDro, Lilacs, Cinahl, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases. The eligibility criteria for selecting studies included randomized clinical trials that compared MT versus other interventions in functional outcomes, such as thumb and/or hand function questionnaires, pinch and/or grip strength, thumb and/or hand range of motion, and pain intensity or pressure pain threshold in patients with thumb carpometacarpal OA.
Results
Five clinical trials met the eligibility criteria; for the quantitative synthesis, four studies were included. The mean difference (MD) for grip strength was 0.87kg (95% CI = 0.29–1.44, p = .003), for pinch strength was 0.10kg (95% CI = –0.01–0.20, p = .06), and for the pressure pain threshold was 0.64kg/cm2 (95% CI = 0.07–1.20, p = .03). All differences were in favor of the MT group.
Conclusions
In the short-term, there was moderate to high evidence, with statistically significant differences in the functional outcomes, in favor of MT versus sham interventions in patients with thumb carpometacarpal OA. However, these differences are not clinically important.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No potential competing interest was reported by the author(s).