Hossain S et al. - Local steroid injection is an effective treatment for primary isolated acromioclavicular arthritis. Improvement continues for at least 12 months. The benefit is felt up to 5 years. Pain relief tends to diminish long-term. Methods
Aim was to assess the long-term effects of steroid injection in pts with primary, isolated degenerative acromioclavicular joint arthritis
Steroid injection was given in 25 shoulders in 20 consecutive pts (average age, 55 yrs) with primary acromioclavicular arthritis
Minimum f/u was 5 yrs
Results
The mean preinjection Constant score (61 points) improved at 6 mos to 81 points
Improvement at 12 mos was also significant vs the 6-month score
The mean score at 5 yrs was a significant deterioration vs the 12-month score but still a significant improvement vs the preinjection scores
Younger pts had greater improvement in the objective score as did women
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