Ultrasound-guided needle release plus corticosteroid injection of superficial radial nerve:A case report

BACKGROUND The radial nerve(RN)splits into two main branches at the elbow:The superficial branch of RN(SBRN)and the deep branch of RN.The SBRN can be easily damaged in acute trauma due to its superficial feature.CASE SUMMARY A 55-year-old male patient injured his right wrist 10 mo ago.Debridement,suturing and bandaging were performed in the emergency room.Six months after the scar had healed,he felt numbness and tingling in the dorsal surface of the thumb of the right hand.So the surgery of resection and SBRN anastomosis were performed.The pathological findings showed it as traumatic neuroma.Four months after surgery,the patient felt numbness and tingling in the right dorsal surface of the thumb again.The tenderness was marked in the operated area.Ultrasound indicated that the SBRN was adhered to the surrounding tissue.The patient refused further surgical treatment and underwent ultrasound-guided needle release plus corticosteroid injection of the SBRN.Four weeks later,the tenderness in the surgical area was reduced by 70%,the numbness in the dorsal surface of the thumb of the right hand was reduced by 40%and the nerve swelling evaluated by ultrasound was reduced.Four months passed,he did not feel any numbness or tingling sensation of his right wrist.This is the first report of ultrasound-guided needle release plus corticosteroid injection of the SBRN.CONCLUSION Ultrasound can evaluate the condition of the RN,and the relationship with surrounding tissues.Ultrasound-guided needle release plus corticosteroid injection is an effective and safe treatment for SBRN adhesion.

Corticosteroid Injection by Palpation Guide versus Palpation Guide and Needling Method for Coccydynia

Background: Coccydynia is a painful condition with tenderness and ache in sacrococcygeal area which may radiate to the buttocks and lower back. Coccydynia is a multifactorial disorder and the most common cause of it is trauma. The initial treatment of the disease is conservative methods. One of the most common conservative treatments of chronic coccydynia is the local corticosteroid injection, which performed usually by palpation-guided method. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of local corticosteroid injection using palpation and needling method with palpation method alone. Patients and Methods: In this prospective study, 50 patients with the diagnosis of coccydynia were enrolled between 2010 and 2017. All patients had chronic coccydynia which did not respond to conservative therapy for at least three months. Participants were divided into two groups and each group consisted of 25 individuals. Patients who underwent local corticosteroid injection using palpation guide technique alone were assigned as group A and others who underwent palpation guiding injection with needling technique were considered as group B. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the mean VAS scores in preinjection and final follow up visit in each groups (P value < 0.001). Moreover, the difference between the mean VAS scores of the final visit in groups A and B was statistically significant (P value < 0.001). Conclusion: Local corticosteroid injection using palpation guiding technique with needling is an uncomplicated, inexpensive, and effective invasive conservative treatment for refractory chronic coccydynia.

Effects of the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with Surgery and Injections on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

Background: The prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and of anxiety and depression in primary care practice are high. Different studies had shown an increased prevalence of anxiety and depression in CTS patients. Nevertheless, few papers had been published studying the anxiety and depression scales in the treatment of CTS, either with corticosteroid injections (I) or with surgical decompression (S). Objective: To assess whether clinical improvement observed after the treatment of CTS either with I or with S correlates with an improvement in the punctuations of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scales (HADS), at 3, 6 and 12-month follow-up. Methods: Randomized and open-label clinical trial, comparing I and S. Patients with symptoms suggestive of CTS (nocturnal paraesthesias) of at least 3 months duration and neurophysiological confirmation were included. Patients with clinically apparent motor impairment were excluded. The subjective evaluation of symptoms was carried out using the visual-analogue scale of pain (VAS-p). Clinical reviews were performed 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Each patient completed the HADS questionnaire and a VAS-p at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months. Statistical significance was established using the Student’s t test and the Mann-Whitney U test when necessary. A linear regression analysis was used to know the effect of the treatment adjusted for the initial score of both scales. Results: 65 patients were included (30 in group I and 35 in group S). There was no statistical difference between both groups in terms of age, gender distribution, disease duration, VAS-p, neurophysiological testing severity of CTS or the 8 subscales of HADS. Both groups improved significantly in relation to the baseline VAS-p values, in the reviews at 3, 6 and 12 months, with no significant differences between I and S. At 6 months, the reduction in the anxiety scale was around 3 points for both treatments (S = 3.6 and I = 3.2), without reaching significant differences. At 12 months, it was somewhat higher for those treated with I, but always around 3 points and without significant differences. The Depression scale score was slightly reduced at 6 months, and in a similar way for both groups (I = 1 and S = 1.19;p = 0.8). After 12 months, group I doubled the previous reduction, with group S experiencing a very slight change (I = 1.96 and S = 1.03;p = 0.3). When analysing the effect of group S on group I, the result was a reduction of 0.25 points for Anxiety (p = 0.7) and of 0.02 points for Depression (p = 0.9). Conclusions: Treatment of CTS with I or S results in a similar and discrete improvement in Anxiety scores on the HADS scale at 6 and 12 months. For both types of treatment, the Depression scores barely changed at 6 months, being somewhat higher in group I after 12-month follow-up. The independent effect of the S on both scales is small and not significant.