Trial reportJournal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology2020
Measuring the placebo effect in carpal tunnel syndrome.
Trial report in Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Palmitoylethanolamide supplementation for human health: A state-of-the-art systematic review of Randomized Controlled Trials in patient populations.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe placebo effect can account for part of the improvement seen in patients undergoing any type of treatment, be it surgical or pharmacological. The objective of this study is to quantify the placebo effect in carpal tunnel syndrome treatment. MATERIALS AND
methodsA double-blinded randomized trial was performed with 68 patients suffering from mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome, divided into two groups with no statistically significant differences regarding age, weight, or degree of nerve compression. The patients were evaluated clinically and electromyographically before and after 2 months of treatment with either palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) or placebo.
resultsThe results, comparing the two groups, showed an improvement in both groups on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and Levine's questionnaire, which have been reported to show statistical differences in only a few items. In the placebo group, the mean age was 53.32 years (±13.43) and the BMI was 28.85 kg/m
conclusionsThese results show an improvement in the studied parameters by up to 20%, but when compared with those published in literature, these show great variability due to the wide variety of factors involved in the placebo effect. Several factors that affect the placebo effect are discussed, and the present work tries to quantify it in carpal tunnel syndrome. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 2 of evidence according to "The Oxford 2011 Level of Evidence."
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Registered trials
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