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

Ullevaal University Hospital

Status

Completed

Conditions

Rotator Cuff Disease

Treatments

Drug: triamcinolone and lidocaine hydrochloride

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00640575

sais-201204

Details and patient eligibility

About

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.

Enrollment

106 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

above 18 years
shoulder pain for more than 3 months
pain at abduction of the affected shoulder
less than 50 % reduced passive glenohumeral range of motion in no more than one direction of either abduction, external or internal rotation
2 of 3 positive isometric test of external rotation, internal rotation and abduction
positive Hawkins-Kennedy impingement test

Exclusion criteria

SPADI score below 30 points
symptomatic acromioclavicular arthritis
clinical and radiological findings indicating glenohumeral joint pathology
referred pain from neck or internal organs
clinical signs of a cervical syndrome
generalized muscular pain syndrome with bilateral muscular pain in the neck and shoulders
history of inflammatory arthritis
diabetes mellitus type 1
contraindications to local steroid or lidocaine hydrochloride injections
corticosteroid injections last month before inclusion
unable to respond to questionnaires