2016 AAOS Annual Meeting: Simultaneous Steroid Injection After Percutaneous A1 Pulley Release: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

112 digits in patients scheduled for percutaneous A1 pulley release were randomized to the procedure with or without the addition of a steroid injection immediately after. The purpose of this study was to compare measures of clinical outcome between groups. Assessments were conducted at 3 weeks and 3 months follow-up, with pain, Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I), proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint range of motion (ROM), and the modified Quinnell grade assessed. Pain was not significant different between groups at 3 weeks, but significantly higher at 3 months in those who received a steroid injection. In contrast, PIP joint ROM and the PGI-I were both significantlyhigher at 3 weeks in the group who received steroid injection compared to those who did not; differences in these outcomes at 3 months were not significant. Subgroup analyses suggested possibly greater efficacy of the additional steroid to percutaneous A1 pulley release in those with greater baseline symptom severity.