Research Supports the Integral Role of Ultrasound in Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome  

March 11, 2026 — Sonex Health and the Institute of Advanced Ultrasound Guided Procedures recently announced the publication of a manuscript in the Journal of Ultrasound Medicine supporting the role of ultrasound-guided carpal tunnel release (UGCTR) for treating carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), "Sound Judgment: The Role of Ultrasound Across the Continuum of Care for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome."

The review summarizes the evidence supporting the role of ultrasound in diagnosing and managing CTS, including using ultrasound to assist in diagnosing CTS, perform ultrasound-guided injections, and treat patients with UGCTR. The authors concluded that ultrasound offers significant advantages in terms of patient comfort, safety, and resource utilization, and is supported by evidence demonstrating diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of electrodiagnostic studies, improved injection safety and efficacy, and surgical outcomes that match or exceed those of conventional CTR surgical approaches.

Co-authors include a multidisciplinary group of prominent clinicians with ultrasound and UGCTR experience: Dr. Christopher Jobe, Loma Linda University; Dr. Levon Nazarian, University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Brett Kindle, Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; and Dr. John Fowler, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"Ultrasound is now an integral component in the continuum of care for CTS treatment and offers significant advantages for patient comfort and safety," said Dr. Christopher Jobe. "In addition to these clinical benefits, performing office-based UGCTR under local anesthesia is associated with substantial cost savings by avoiding operating room fees, anesthesia services, and prolonged recovery periods. As clinical data reported in peer-reviewed publications continues to demonstrate sustained outcomes, clinical practice guidelines should be updated to ensure ultrasound-guided interventions are readily accessible to patients."

Key conclusions include:

• Ultrasound provides clear visualization of the median nerve (MN) and carpal tunnel contents. Ultrasound can also identify anatomic variants which may increase the risk of injury during carpal tunnel procedures.
• Evidence supports the use of ultrasound as a first-line diagnostic modality for CTS as an alternative to electrodiagnostic testing when used in conjunction with the clinical evaluation.
• A network meta-analysis reported that UGCTR was associated with the highest patient satisfaction and earlier return to work compared to other CTR techniques.
• UGCTR provides symptomatic and functional improvements that are comparable to other CTR techniques, including open carpal tunnel release (OCTR) and endoscopic carpal tunnel release (ECTR).
• Major complications are "exceedingly rare," likely due to the continuous, real-time visualization and wide field of view achieved during UGCTR.
• UGCTR is well-suited for wide awake local anesthesia no tourniquet (WALANT) techniques. Local anesthesia avoids the cost and complications of general anesthesia or sedation and may be particularly advantageous in the elderly, those with comorbidities and those taking anticoagulants.
• Cost-utility analyses have demonstrated that UGCTR is less costly and provides greater quality-adjusted life-year improvements than OCTR and ECTR.
• These advantages support the use of UGCTR under local anesthesia in the office-based setting by providing a safe, efficient, and cost-effective option for appropriately selected CTS patients.

"We're grateful to the authors for sharing their assessment of ultrasound's critical role in CTS diagnosis and treatment," said Sonex Health Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder, Dr. Jay Smith. "This independent publication complements a robust and growing number of peer-reviewed studies that report the benefits of UGCTR in more than 2,300 patients and 2,800 hands. Collectively, these publications support the use of UGCTR with balloon dilation as a favorable, minimally invasive surgical option for treating patients suffering from CTS."

Sonex Health was not involved in the conduct of the study, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, or preparation, review or approval of the manuscript.