Subacromial Ultrasound-guided or Systemic Steroid Injection for Rotator Cuff Disease, a Randomized Double Blinded Study

Summary

Corticosteroid injections is a popular treatment option in shoulder disease. The evidence of effectiveness of corticosteroid injections is however contradicting. The importance of the accuracy of the steroid placement have been discussed and recently there are a few studies indicating better treatment effect if the injections are guided towards specific anatomical structures by real time ultrasound imaging. None of these studies have been double blinded. The aim of this study is to investigate the importance of placement of steroid injection in patients with rotator cuff disease by comparing systemic and ultrasound-guided injection in the subacromial bursa using a double blinded design.

Timeline

Start

2005-03

Primary completion

2006-10

Completion

2006-12

Outcome

Missed primary endpoint

paper it was -4.1 (-12.3 to 4.1, P=0.32) after adjustment for baseline score. PMID 19168537 ↗

paper No important differences in short term outcomes were found between local ultrasound guided corticosteroid injection and systemic corticosteroid injection in rotator cuff disease. PMID 19168537 ↗

Publications

• Ekeberg OM, Bautz-Holter E, Juel NG, Engebretsen K, Kvalheim S, Brox JI. Clinical, socio-demographic and radiological predictors of short-term outcome in rotator cuff disease. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2010 Oct 15;11:239. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-11-239.
• Ekeberg OM, Bautz-Holter E, Tveita EK, Juel NG, Kvalheim S, Brox JI. Subacromial ultrasound guided or systemic steroid injection for rotator cuff disease: randomised double blind study. BMJ. 2009 Jan 23;338:a3112. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a3112.

Drugs

Evaluation	Drug	Modality	Dose	Route
Subject	Triamcinolone	Other / unclassified	2 ml	Other
Background	Lidocaine	Other / unclassified	2 ml	Other
Background	Lidocaine	Other / unclassified	4 ml	Other
Background	Lidocaine	Other / unclassified	5 ml	Other

Indications