Trigger finger completely resolved immediately after procedure in 81.7 percent of 60 cases
FRIDAY, July 22, 2016 (HealthDay News) — An ultrasonographically (US)-guided percutaneous treatment using a 21-gauge needle is efficacious for trigger finger, according to a study published in the August issue of Radiology.
Franck Lapègue, M.D., from the CHU de Toulouse-Purpan in France, and colleagues examined the efficacy of US-guided percutaneous treatment of trigger finger by releasing the A1 pulley with a 21-gauge needle in a two-stage study. The first stage included 10 procedures that were conducted in cadaver digits to examine the effectiveness of the A1 pulley release. In the second stage, 60 procedures were performed in 48 patients in a prospective, clinical study over an 18-month period.
The researchers observed no complications during the cadaver study; in all fingers the release was considered partial. The trigger finger was completely resolved immediately after the procedure in 81.7 percent of cases in the clinical study. In 10 cases, moderate trigger finger persisted, and one thumb pulley could not be released. In these 11 cases a US-guided corticosteroid injection was subsequently performed. Only two cases still had moderate trigger finger at six-month follow-up.
“US-guided treatment of the trigger finger by using a 21-gauge needle is feasible in current practice, with minimal complications,” the authors write.
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