[Ultrasound-guided infiltration results in chronic brachial biceps tendinitis].

INTRODUCTION

Anterior shoulder pain is one of the most common symptoms in the orthopedic consultation, much of it is associated with the pathology of the long head biceps tendon; in general, its management is conservative, including injections which are performed blindly as a common clinical practice. With the advent of imaging support in the performance of these procedures such as ultrasound can improve the accuracy of biceps tendon sheath injections to obtain a better clinical result.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the clinical results of patients with chronic biceps tendinitis who were injected by ultrasound guidance.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Observational single-cohort study with prospective follow-up which included patients with chronic tendonitis of the long biceps brachii who were candidates for ultrasound-guided infiltration. The presence of pain (Visual Analogue Scale) and functionality (Constant-Murley Test) was evaluated after two weeks. Quantitative variables are reported as averages and standard deviation.

RESULTS

The study comprised 18 patients with an average age of 59.6 years, the EVA score decreased from 7.2 (SD 1.6) before-injection to 3.7 (2.7) post-injection. The Constant-Murley score improved from 51.1 (SD 9.5) before injection to 65.9 (15.7) at follow-up. No complications were reported.

DISCUSSION

Ultrasound-guided infiltration is a safe procedure that results in improvement of pain and functionality of patients with tendonitis of the biceps brachial.