Fact · Accessibility and health
The 2023 Cochrane splinting review concluded that there is insufficient evidence to say whether splinting benefits people with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“There is insufficient evidence to conclude whether splinting benefits people with CTS.”
Splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome (Cochrane review, 2023), Karjalainen TV et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2023, Authors' conclusions.
Open the original- What it measures
- The review pooled 29 randomised trials with 1,937 adults. Its conclusion is about whether any benefit is large enough to matter, not whether splints do nothing.
- What it does not show
- The same review found low-certainty evidence that night-time splints may give a greater chance of overall improvement than no treatment, and it says the benefits may not be clinically important. Trials were generally at high risk of bias, including lack of blinding.