Glenohumeral corticosteroid injection in adhesive capsulitis
Corticosteroid injections, placed intra-articular in the glenohumeral joint, are frequently used to influence the course of adhesive capsulitis and to attenuate the local inflammatory processes. Image guidance is often pointed to as a means for improving accuracy of the injections, but its effect on clinical outcomes is still unclear.
The current review investigated the clinical outcomes of intra-articular corticosteroid injections for adhesive capsulitis, and particularly sought to determine whether differences in outcomes were present between image guided and “blind” injections.
It was found that especially in the first 6 to 12 weeks after onset of the disorder, corticosteroid injections can improve shoulder pain and function. At a later stage, they do not provide any additional benefits in decreasing pain or increasing ROM on top of physiotherapy anymore. Due to the limited data available specifically on the clinical outcomes after image guided injections, no definitive conclusions can be drawn on this subject – nevertheless, the authors speculate that the advantages of corticosteroid injections can only fully be made use of when placement is aided by imaging techniques.
