Carpal tunnel: 15-minute saline procedure shows lasting relief in small study

A brief ultrasound-guided procedure may help people with carpal tunnel syndrome for longer than the usual steroid injection, doctors in India report in Radiology, the journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA, release dated Oct. 21, 2026). In carpal tunnel syndrome, the median nerve in the wrist is compressed, typically causing numbness, tingling and pain in the hand. In so-called hydrodissection, a doctor uses ultrasound to guide an injection of fluid around the nerve to separate it from surrounding tissue.

The trial, led by Anindita Bose of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College in Jaipur, included 63 patients whose symptoms persisted despite conventional treatment. They were randomly assigned to hydrodissection with saline, hydrodissection with saline plus a steroid, or a steroid injection alone. All groups improved after four weeks. In the steroid-only group, symptoms later returned, while improvement in the hydrodissection groups held at 12 weeks and six months. Adding a steroid brought no extra benefit. Swelling of the nerve fell by about 43% to 45%, compared with about 15% with a steroid alone.

The procedure took about 15 minutes on average and required no anesthesia or hospital stay, and the authors reported no significant complications. Co-author Anupama Tandon sees it as a possible option for mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome that could delay or sometimes avoid surgery. The study is small, however, and ran for only six months; larger studies with longer follow-up are needed, the researchers stressed.