Comparing the therapeutic results of methylprednisolone acetate injection with or without thumb spica casting in patients with de Quervain's disease

Abstract

Background: There is no consensus in the treatment of de Quervain's disease. This study was performed to compare the methylprednisolone acetate injection with thumb spica cast versus methylprednisolone acetate injection alone for treatment of de Quervain tendinitis. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 88 patients with de Quervain's disease were selected from patients who referred to Al-zahra Hospital and the researchers’ private offices in Isfahan, Iran. The patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups. 1 mg methylprednisolone acetate injection in first dorsal compartment of the wrist accompanied with thumb spica cast for 3 weeks was the therapeutic method utilized in the first group; methylprednisolone acetate injection alone was performed in the second group. The patients were evaluated in terms of pain intensity and the relative prevalence of tenderness and Finkelstein's test. Findings: Pain intensity and prevalence of tenderness and Finkelstein's test in both groups were similar and become lower significantly. Conclusion: It seemed that both therapeutic methods are effective equally; but as casting makes trouble for the patients, so corticosteroid injection alone is better than corticosteroid with casting in treatment of de Quervain's disease. © 2015, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.