THURSDAY, Oct. 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with calcific rotator cuff tendinopathy of the shoulder, there is no benefit for ultrasound-guided lavage with a corticosteroid injection or for sham lavage with a corticosteroid injection versus sham treatment, according to a study published online Oct. 11 in The BMJ.

Stefan Moosmayer, M.D., Ph.D., from Martina Hansens Hospital in Gjettum, Norway, and colleagues conducted a three-arm, parallel-group superiority trial with repeated measurements over 24 hours in six hospitals involving 220 adults with calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder, persistent for at least three months. Participants were randomly assigned to receive ultrasound-guided deposit lavage plus subacromial injection of 20 mg triamcinolone acetonide and 9 mL 1 percent lidocaine hydrochloride (lavage+steroid), sham lavage plus steroid (sham lavage+steroid), or sham lavage plus subacromial injection of 10 mL 1 percent lidocaine hydrochloride (sham).

The primary analysis included data from 218 patients. The researchers found that the differences between the groups on the Oxford Shoulder Score at four-month follow-up were not significant. After four months, supplementary treatment was provided to 143 patients with insufficient treatment effect. None of the study procedures was superior to sham at 24 months. There were no reports of serious adverse events.

“Our results challenge existing recommendations for the treatment of calcific tendinopathy and may necessitate a critical reconsideration of established treatment concepts for these patients,” the authors write.

The authors disclosed ties to the medical device industry.

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