Clinical efficacy and electromyographic analysis of direct current hydrotherapy in the treatment of upper limb peripheral nerve injuries: A randomized controlled trial.

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the reparative effect and therapeutic efficacy of direct current hydrotherapy in the treatment of upper extremity peripheral nerve injury to provide a reference for the clinical treatment of peripheral nerve injury in the future.MethodBetween September 2022 and June 2023, 66 eligible patients with upper extremity peripheral nerve injury were enrolled and randomly divided into observation and experimental groups (33 cases each). All participants provided written informed consent; none of them were minors. Based on routine rehabilitation for both groups, the experimental group received additional direct current hydrotherapy. All procedures were performed by professional rehabilitation staff. This study was approved by the hospital ethics committee and was performed in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials statement. Outcome evaluations, including the action research arm test, Fugl-Meyer assessment, and electromyography, were performed at baseline and 4 weeks after intervention. The primary outcome measure was clinical efficacy, which was classified into cured, markedly effective, improved, and ineffective according to electromyography results.ResultsAfter 4 weeks of treatment, the experimental group showed a more significant improvement than the observation group (p < 0.05). The total effective rate was 96.7% in the experimental group and 81.8% in the observation group. Treatment was considered clinically effective in patients graded as cured, markedly effective, or improved and as non-effective in those graded as ineffective. The risk difference between the two groups was 0.149, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.004 to 0.294. The effect size (Cohen's h) was 0.52, indicating a moderate-to-large treatment effect.ConclusionDirect current hydrotherapy exerts a restorative effect on the peripheral nerves of the upper limbs and has achieved good rehabilitation efficacy, which is worthy of clinical promotion and application.RegistrationThis study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Yuyao People's Hospital on 23 September 2022, Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province (Opinion Number: 2022-09-009; Trial registration: ChiCTR, ChiCTR2500110233; Date of Registration: 10 October 2025; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=283784).