Scientific articleSteroid Injection Versus NSAID Injection for Trigger Finger: A Comparative Study of Early Outcomes
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This research was conducted as a prospective, randomized, double-blinded controlled study. Patients were told that the established steroid treatment was less effective in patients with diabetes and that an alternative treatment was being investigated. Treatment was determined by drawing from a container with equal numbers of slips marked “STEROID” or “NSAID,” and blinded assessors reviewed the patients. The inclusion criteria for the study were clinically diagnosed patients with trigger digits
Results
The overall change in Quinnell grading is shown in Table 2. The mean grade improvement for both groups is shown in Table 3. Scores from both groups were ranked and analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The change in grading at 3 weeks was significantly different between the corticosteroid group and the NSAID group (P = .002). The corticosteroid group obtained better ranks at first, but between 3 weeks and 3 months, the grades were ranked again and the NSAID group did significantly better (P =
Discussion
This study was conducted to compare the outcome of injectable NSAIDs against corticosteroid injection in the treatment of trigger digit. The mechanism of action of corticosteroid is via the arachidonic acid pathway, whereas that of NSAIDs is via the cyclooxygenase pathway. Nevertheless, the ultimate result is the decrease in inflammation. Hence, it could be hypothesized that NSAIDs should bring the same effect as that of corticosteroid when injected for trigger digits.
The outcome in the
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