Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 40 - LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Part I - Workers' Compensation Administration
Subpart 2 - Medical Guidelines
Chapter 22 - Neurological and Neuromuscular Disorder Medical Treatment Guidelines
Subchapter A - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) Medical Treatment Guidelines
Section I-2203 - General Guideline Principles

1. Application of Guidelines. The OWCA provides procedures to implement medical treatment guidelines and to foster communication to resolve disputes among the provider, payer, and patient through the Office of Worker's' Compensation Act.

2. Education. Education of the patient and family, as well as the employer, insurer, policy makers and the community should be the primary emphasis in the treatment of workers' compensation injuries. Currently, practitioners often think of education last, after medications, manual therapy, and surgery. Practitioners must implement strategies to educate patients, employers, insurance systems, policy makers, and the community as a whole. An education-based paradigm should always start with inexpensive communication providing reassuring and evidence-based information to the patient. More in-depth education is currently a component of treatment regimens which employ functional, restorative, preventive and rehabilitative programs. No treatment plan is complete without addressing issues of individual and/or group patient education as a means of facilitating self-management of symptoms and prevention. Facilitation through language interpretation, when necessary, is a priority and part of the medical care treatment protocol.

3. Informed Decision Making. Providers should implement informed decision making as a crucial element of a successful treatment plan. Patients, with the assistance of their health care practitioner, should identify their personal and professional functional goals of treatment at the first visit when a workers' compensation injury allows functional improvement. Progress towards the individual's identified functional goals should be addressed by all members of the health care team at subsequent visits and throughout the established treatment plan when a chronic pain condition allows attainment of functional goals. Injured workers may not reach functional goals to return to work and therefore they will require a significantly different plan. Nurse case managers, physical therapists, and other members of the health care team play an integral role in informed decision-making and achievement of functional goals. Patient education and informed decision-making should facilitate self-management of symptoms and prevention of further injury.

4. Treatment Parameter Duration. Time frames for specific interventions commence once treatments have been initiated, not on the date of injury. Obviously, duration will be impacted by patient adherence, as well as availability of services. Clinical judgment may substantiate the need to accelerate or decelerate the time frames discussed in this document. Such deviation shall be in accordance with La. R.S. 23:1203.1.

5. Active interventions emphasizing patient responsibility, such as therapeutic exercise and/or functional treatment, are generally emphasized over passive modalities, especially as treatment progresses. Generally, passive interventions are viewed as a means to facilitate progress in an active rehabilitation program with concomitant attainment of objective functional gains.

6. Active Therapeutic Exercise Program. Exercise program goals should incorporate patient strength, endurance, flexibility, coordination, and education. This includes functional application in vocational or community settings.

7. Positive Patient Response. Positive results are defined primarily as functional gains that can be objectively measured.

8. Re-Evaluation of Treatment Every Three to Four Weeks. If a given treatment or modality is not producing positive results within three to four weeks, the treatment should be either modified or discontinued. Reconsideration of diagnosis should also occur in the event of poor response to a seemingly rational intervention.

9. Surgical Interventions. Surgery should be contemplated within the context of expected functional outcome and not purely for the purpose of pain relief. The concept of "cure" with respect to surgical treatment by itself is generally a misnomer. All operative interventions must be based upon positive correlation of clinical findings, clinical course, and diagnostic tests. A comprehensive assimilation of these factors must lead to a specific diagnosis with positive identification of pathologic conditions.

10. Pharmacy-Louisiana Law and Regulation. All prescribing will be done in accordance with the laws of the state of Louisiana as they pertain respectively to each individual licensee, including, but not limited to: Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners regulations governing medications used in the treatment of non-cancer-related chronic or intractable pain; Louisiana Board of Pharmacy Prescription Monitoring Program; Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals licensing and certification standards for pain management clinics; other laws and regulations affecting the prescribing and dispensing of medications in the state of Louisiana.

11. Six Month-Time Frame. Injuries resulting in temporary total disability require maintenance treatment and may not attain return to work in six months.

12. Return to Work. Return to work is therapeutic, assuming the work is not likely to aggravate the basic problem or increase long-term pain. An injured worker's return-to-work status shall not be the sole cause to deny reasonable and medically necessary treatment under these guidelines. Two good practices are: early contact with injured workers and provide modified work positions for short-term injuries. The practitioner must may provide specific physical limitations and the patient should never be released to non-specific and vague descriptions such as "sedentary" or "light duty." The following physical limitations should be considered and modified as recommended: lifting, pushing, pulling, crouching, walking, using stairs, bending at the waist, awkward and/or sustained postures, tolerance for sitting or standing, hot and cold environments, data entry and other repetitive motion tasks, sustained grip, tool usage and vibration factors. Even if there is residual chronic pain, return-to-work is not necessarily contraindicated. The practitioner should understand all of the physical demands of the patient's job position before returning the patient to full duty and should request clarification of the patient's job duties. Clarification should be obtained from the employer or, if necessary, from including, but not limited to, occupational health nurse, physical therapist, occupational therapist, vocational rehabilitation specialist, or an industrial hygienist chiropractor or another professional. American Medical Association clarifies "disability" as "activity limitations and/or participation restrictions in an individual with a health condition, disorder or disease" versus "impairment" as "a significant deviation, loss, or loss of use of any body structure or body function in an individual with a health condition, disorder or disease".

13. Delayed Recovery. Within the discretion of the treating physician, strongly consider a psychological evaluation, if not previously provided, as well as initiating interdisciplinary rehabilitation treatment and vocational goal setting, for those patients who are failing to make expected progress 6 to 12 weeks after initiation of treatment of an injury. The OWCA recognizes that 3 to 10 percent of all industrially injured patients will not recover within the timelines outlined in this document despite optimal care. Such individuals may require treatments beyond the limits discussed within this document, but such treatment requires clear documentation by the authorized treating practitioner focusing on objective functional gains afforded by further treatment and impact upon prognosis.

14. Guideline Recommendations and Inclusion of Medical Evidence. Guidelines are recommendations based on available evidence and/or consensus recommendations. When possible, guideline recommendations will note the level of evidence supporting the treatment recommendation. When interpreting medical evidence statements in the guideline, the following apply to the strength of recommendation.

15. Treatment of Pre-Existing Conditions The conditions that preexisted the work injury/disease will need to be managed under two circumstances: