![Chronic tendinitis: injection of cortisone, no more effective than anti-inflammatory drugs](https://img.passeportsante.net/1000x526/2014-03-24/i76381-tendinite-chronique-l-injection-de-cortisone-pas-plus-efficace-que-les-anti-inflammatoires.jpg)
December 15, 2009 – Cortisone injection is no more effective than anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen (Advil ©, Motrin ©) or naproxen (Anaprox ©), in reducing the pain of chronic tendonitis. shoulder or elbow (tennis elbow).
This is what French researchers discovered who analyzed 20 studies that compared cortisone to other treatments in 1,731 patients. One third (35.7%) suffered from tendonitis of the shoulder (rotator cuff) and two thirds (64.3%) suffered from epicondylalgia (elbow).
According to the results, cortisone was not very effective for patients chronically affected by one of the 2 types of tendonitis studied.
However, cortisone injection has been shown to be effective, as have anti-inflammatory drugs, in alleviating pain and sometimes in improving mobility, but only when injected within the first 8 weeks of onset of symptoms.
The researchers still question the relevance of injecting cortisone to treat tendonitis. According to them, the location where the injection is given is often unclear.
“Even when performed by musculoskeletal specialists, only 29% of injections to treat shoulder tendonitis are given correctly,” they write.
This is why they recommend treating physicians to prioritize anti-inflammatory drugs over cortisone first, unless the pain is very severe.
“Given the similar effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs in the short term, the results obtained lead us to question the role of cortisone injections in the treatment of these 2 problems, especially in the long term”, conclude the authors of the review. ‘studies.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
1. Gaujoux-Viala C et al, Efficacy and safety of steroid injections for shoulder and elbow tendonitis: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, Annals of the rheumatic diseases, December 2009, vol. 68, no 12, 1843-9.