REVIEW - Corticosteroid injections in the treatment of trigger finger: a level I and II systematic review

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J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2007 Mar;15(3):166-71.

Corticosteroid injections in the treatment of trigger finger: a level

I and II systematic review.

Fleisch SB, Spindler KP, Lee DH.

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232-8828, USA.

Trigger finger is a tendinitis (stenosing tenosynovitis) with multiple

management approaches. We conducted an evidence-based medicine

systematic review of level I and II prospective randomized controlled

trials to determine the effectiveness of corticosteroid injection in

managing trigger finger. MEDLINE, Cochrane database, and secondary

references were reviewed to locate all English-language prospective

randomized controlled trials evaluating trigger finger treatment. Four

studies using injectable corticosteroids were identified, based on the

following inclusion criteria: all were prospective randomized

controlled trials of adults with >85% follow-up. This review indicates

that the incidence of trigger finger is greatest in women (75%), with

an average patient age range of 52 to 62 years. Combined analysis of

these four studies shows that corticosteroid injections are effective

in 57% of patients.

PMID: 17341673

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17341673

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