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Ultrasound-guided subacromial injection yielded superior pain relief vs palpation guide
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CHICAGO — Patients who received ultrasound-guided subacromial injection experienced superior pain relief with no differences in function or activity level compared patients who were treated with palpation-guided subacromial injection, according to results presented here.
Jennifer Kurowicki, MD, and colleagues randomly assigned patients with subacromial bursitis to receive either palpation-guided or ultrasound-guided subacromial injection. Researchers evaluated patients at pre-injection, 15 minutes post-injection and 12 weeks post-injection and used the QuickDASH for function, VAS pain scores and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score to determine activity level.
Results showed no differences in outcome measures between the two groups at pre-injection. Kurowicki noted a significant improvement in both cohorts at 15 minutes post-injection.
“Then at 12 weeks follow-up, the VAS pain was significantly lower in our ultrasound group,” Kurowicki said in her presentation at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting. “Additionally, the ultrasound group was the only group that showed a significant improvement from pre-injection to 12-week follow-up in our UCLA activity score.”
She added neither group experienced complications nor required surgical intervention within 3 months following the injection.
“This may be relevant to the potential greater accuracy that may be obtained when using ultrasound-guided injection,” Kurowicki said. – by Casey Tingle
Reference:
Pierce T, et al. Paper 63. Presented at: Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting; April 26-28, 2018; Chicago.
Disclosure: Kurowicki reports no relevant financial disclosures.