Anyone aware of any trials/articles comparing the efficacy of cortisone injections against a one week trial of anti inflammatories for rotator cuff tendonitis?
I found a few articles. Some of them are old though
Green S, Buchbinder R, Glazier R, Forbes A. Interventions for
shoulder pain: systematic review. Cochrane Musculoskeletal Group
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2002; 3.
Arroll B, Goodyear-Smith F.Corticosteroid injections for painful shoulder: a meta-analysis. Br J Gen Pract. 2005 Apr; 55(513):314
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15808040
Rotator cuff tendinitis: comparison of subacromial injection of a long acting corticosteroid versus oral indomethacin J Rheumatol 1986 Jun;13(3):608-13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3735283
I think it's going to be interesting to see how the introduction of MSK US is going to affect the efficacy studies.
I suspect that as more and more docs use US for better localization, the relative benefits of the injections will be higher. But that is just speculation.