Treatment of de Quervain disease with triamcinolone injection with or without nimesulide. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

There is uncertainty as to whether supplemental oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication improves the effectiveness of steroid injections in the treatment of de Quervain disease. We tested the hypothesis that there are no significant differences in the success rates when this condition is treated with triamcinolone injection with or without supplemental oral nimesulide.

METHODS

In a randomized, double-blind trial, 160 patients with de Quervain disease received an injection of 10 mg of triamcinolone acetonide and either 200 mg of oral nimesulide for seven days (eighty patients) or placebo tablets for seven days (eighty patients). An independent, blinded evaluator assessed the primary outcomes (tenderness, pain, and the result on the Finkelstein test) at three weeks after injection. Adverse reactions were assessed, and probabilities of recurrence for both groups were compared. Factors possibly predictive of disease recurrence were also assessed.

RESULTS

The success rate after one injection was 67% in the nimesulide group and 68% in the placebo group. The overall success rates after single or multiple injections with a mean follow-up of 13.6 months were 95% for both groups. No significant differences were noted with respect to the success rates (p = 0.69) or pain scores after treatment (p = 0.11). The most common adverse reactions to triamcinolone injection and nimesulide were pain after injection and dyspepsia, respectively. The symptoms of de Quervain disease recurred in 33% of the patients in the nimesulide group and in 37% of those in the placebo group. The median time of recurrence was at the fifth month in the nimesulide group and at the fourth month in the placebo group. The recurrence of symptoms was significantly (p = 0.01) related to the presence of crepitation (relative risk, 2.13; 95% confidence interval, 1.19 to 3.80).

CONCLUSIONS

Supplemental oral administration of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug nimesulide does not improve the effectiveness of a single injection of triamcinolone acetonide in the treatment of de Quervain disease. Patients with crepitation in the first dorsal compartment during thumb extension or abduction are at increased risk for recurrence of this disease.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, Level I-1b (randomized controlled trial [no significant difference but narrow confidence intervals]).