Percutaneous trigger finger release found safe for patients with diabetes

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers found a higher success rate using a percutaneous trigger finger release technique to treat trigger finger rather than corticosteroids in patients with diabetes, according to a presenter, here.

“The percutaneous trigger finger release (PTFR) is a procedure that can be done in the office setting that is effective for diabetic patients in all digits where less invasive procedures may be preferable,” Melissa Arief, MD, from the University Hospital of Brooklyn in New York, said at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting.

Arief and colleagues evaluated 168 patients who received 1 to 3 corticosteroid injections to treat trigger finger, while 180 patients underwent PTFR between 2008 and 2013 at a single institution. Patients with grade II and grade III trigger finger were included, while patients with trauma and end-stage arthritis were excluded.

There was a 68% treatment success rate in the injection group, with 108 excellent and 3 good outcomes. The PTFR group had a 94.5% success rate, with 166 excellent and 4 good outcomes, she said.

“Compared to the corticosteroid injection, there is a greater success rate,” Arief said. “However, it is important to emphasize to the patient that percutaneous trigger finger release is an operative procedure and it may require therapy more similar to an open procedure than the injection.”

Reference:

Arief M. Paper #1. Presented at: American Society for Surgery of the Hand Annual Meeting. Oct. 3-5, 2013; San Francisco.

Disclosure: Arief has no relevant financial disclosures.