2017 AAOS Annual Meeting: Rotator Cuff Calcific Tendinitis: Ultrasound-guided Needling and Lavage vs. Subacromial Corticosteroids - Five-year Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Trial

48 patients with calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff were included in this randomized controlled trial to compared the clinical and radiographic outcomes of ultrasound-guided barbotage (needling and lavage) combined with an ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injection in the subacromial bursa (SAI) to an ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injection in the subacromial bursa alone. At 5 years, while both groups demonstrated significant improvements from baseline in clinical and resorption outcomes, there were no significant differences between groups. These results were in contrast to results observed at 1-year follow-up, which significantly favoured the combination of barbotage and SAI in comparison to SAI alone.