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Got It, Hide thisMohamadi A, Chan JJ, Claessen FM, et al. Corticosteroid Injections Give Small and Transient Pain Relief in Rotator Cuff Tendinosis: A Meta-analysis. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2016 Jul 28. [Epub ahead of print]
In people who have rotator cuff tendinosis, do single or repeated corticosteroid injections relieve pain at 3 months after treatment compared with placebo?
As they age, many people have shoulder pain that is caused by tendons that deteriorate over time but without any swelling. This is known as rotator cuff tendinosis but can also be called tendinopathy, tendinitis, or impingement. For many types of joint pain, corticosteroid injections are used to reduce swelling and pain.
The researchers did a systematic review, searching for studies that were published up to August 2015.
They found 11 high-quality randomized controlled trials including 726 people who were, on average, 54 years old.
People in the studies were adults who had rotator cuff tendinosis and had pain measured at least 1 week after the injections.
Corticosteroids were compared with placebo (normal saline or local anesthetic).
3 months after having the injections, there were:
Small temporary pain relief (about half of a point on a 10-point pain scale) occurred in the corticosteroid group between 4 and 8 weeks after the injection. At least 5 patients would need to be treated for 1 patient to have their pain temporarily reduced.
Multiple, repeated injections were not better than a single injection at any time.
In people who have rotator cuff tendinosis, corticosteroid injections give short-term relief to 1 in 5 patients but do not reduce pain at 3 months compared with placebo. Multiple, repeated injections are not better than 1 or no injections.
Comparison | Number of trials (number of people) | Effect of steroid injection on pain at 3 months |
Single injection vs placebo | 6 trials (number of people not reported) | Pain did not differ between groups |
Multiple, repeated injections vs placebo | 3 trials (number of people not reported) | Pain did not differ between groups |
Either single or repeated injections vs placebo | 8 trials (564 people) | Pain did not differ between groups |