Stenosing tenosynovitis : Evaluation of percutaneous release with a specially designed needle vs. open surgery.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of conventional open surgery and percutaneous release with aspecially designed needle for treating stenosing tenosynovitis in terms of cure, relapse and complication rates. In this study 89fingers from 76patients were randomly assigned and allocated to one of the treatment groups. Atotal of 37patients were treated with open surgery in group1 and 39patients with percutaneous release using a specially designed needle in group2. Apatient-based 4-inch visual analogue scale (VAS), Quinnell grading (QG), disability of arm shoulder and hand (DASH) score and finger total joint range of motion (FTROM) score were evaluated before treatment and after 7, 30 and 180days. When finger QG scores were equal or greater than 2points at follow-up at 180days this was defined as recurrence.. There were no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05) in terms of VAS, DASH and QG scores and the degree of FTROM. At 7days all the data were significantly different (p < 0.05) compared with preoperative data, 30 days was significantly different (p < 0.05) compared with 7 days while at 180 days no significant differences could be found (p > 0.05) compared with 30 days. The recurrence rate in group1 was 4.65% and 6.55% in group2. The percutaneous release and open surgery methods displayed similar effectiveness regarding the cure and recurrence of trigger finger disorder. The use of a specially designed needle for release is asafe and reliable method.