Posts Tagged ‘steroid injections’

Tarun Mullick, M.D., at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, has suggested that intrastricture steroid injections should be used routinely as part of the treatment for complex esophageal strictures caused by acid-peptic disease that are smaller than 13 mm.

Intrastricture Kenalog injections significantly reduced the number of dilations needed to achieve a successful outcome by an average of about three, when compared with sham injections (4 vs. 7 dilations) in a randomized, placebo-controlled study of 120 patients.

From Internalmedicinenews.com:

The findings represent a major advancement in the treatment of complex esophageal strictures caused by acid-peptic disease, but steroid injections should be reserved only for those strictures smaller than 13 mm in size, he said.

In this study, 40 of 60 patients in the steroid group and 45 of 60 in the sham injection group had strictures smaller than 13 mm, and the therapeutic benefit of the steroid injections was entirely limited to these strictures.

Significantly fewer patients in the steroid group than in the sham injection group failed to achieve a successful outcome (0/60 vs. 9/60), which was defined as dilation of at least 18 mm. Failure to progress to the next size dilator occurred 2 times in the steroid group, compared with 132 times in the sham injection group; this difference was also statistically significant.

Dr. Mullick of Delnor-Community Hospital, Geneva, Ill. said intrastricture Kenalog injections improve quality of life as measured in terms of dysphagia, the ability to take pills, and effects on diet.

A non-surgical treatment with steroids is as good as an invasive surgery when it comes to relieving patients from discomforting symptoms of the Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, according to recent observations by researchers.

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is a discomforting condition of the wrist, which is caused due to compression of the median nerve that runs from palm base up to the forearm. It is known to affect performing repetitive hand motions, especially golfers, tennis players, and people using computers.

From Bio.Medicine.Org:

Standard treatment for symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrome include splinting and pain relievers like ibuprofen. When those methods fail to help, many patients undergo surgery to decompress the nerve. However, another option is to receive steroid injections to relieve symptoms.

In a recent study researchers compared results between people who had been experiencing symptoms of the condition for at least three months. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either surgery or the steroid injections. Results showed no difference in outcomes between the groups over the long term, and in the short term, people who received the injections actually reported better relief of symptoms.

The involved researchers remarked that administration of steroid injections is an effective option to provide great relief from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome rather than going for invasive surgery as steroid injections reported better relief of symptoms.