Injection of Hyaluronic Acid versus Steroid Guided by Ultrasound in Management of Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy

Abstract

Aim of the Work To compare effect of injection of sodium hyaluronate versus steroid guided by ultrasound in treatment of rotator cuff tendinopathy. Aim of the Work To compare effect of injection of sodium hyaluronate versus steroid guided by ultrasound in treatment of rotator cuff tendinopathy. Patient and Methods This study was conducted on 30 patients with shoulder pain. All patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination and laboratory investigations together with diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound. Pain and function scores were assessed using the visual analog scale(VAS), Oxford shoulder score (OSS), and Constant shoulder score (CSS). All patients were randomly assigned into one of two groups; Group I received single steroid injection, Group II received single hyaluronic acid injection. Patients were re-assessed after 2 months of injections. Results After 2 months of injection, both groups showed improvement regarding CSS, OSS and VAS and the difference between pre-injection and post-injection was highly significant regarding all three parameters (p < 0.001). On comparison between groups; Group II showed highly significant improvement regarding CSS and VAS compared to group I (P < 0.001). However, there was no difference in OSS between two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion Hyaluronic acid injection offers better therapeutic advantages over a corticosteroid injection in the treatment of rotator cuff tendinopathy especially in the short term follow up.