Newswise — A study presented at AAP 2015 San Antonio compares the effectiveness of HA injections to triamcinolone in improving pain and function in patients with lumbar ZJT arthropathy.
"Use of hyaluronate (HA) injections has been fairly well studied in peripheral joints, but there have been very few studies on their effect in lumbar zygapophyseal joints (ZJT). This study was a prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of ZJT injections of HA with steroid for pain relief, functional improvement and patient satisfaction for ZJT mediated chronic low back pain (CLBP). We enrolled 30 patients and fluoroscopically injected their bilateral L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 ZJTs with the study medication, and assessed outcomes at 1, 3 and 6 months after injection. We found that steroid and HA injections provide similar pain and functional benefits in patients with symptomatic lumbar ZJT arthropathy. We also found that HA provided statistically significant short- and long-term functional benefits and short-term pain improvement but steroid injections only provided statistically significant short-term functional benefit and no significant short- or long-term pain improvement compared to baseline levels of CLBP," said Thiru Annaswamy, MD, lead author.
# # #The Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) is the only academic association dedicated to the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) in the world. AAP is an organization of leading physicians, researchers, in-training physiatrists, and others involved or interested in leadership, mentorship, and discovery in PM&R. AAP is based in Baltimore, MD. To learn more about the Association and the field of physiatry, visit our site at www.physiatry.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AAPhysiatrists.
The 2015 AAP Annual Meeting will take place in San Antonio, March 10-14, 2015. The AAP Annual Meeting brings together physiatrists and academicians, in-training physiatrists, researchers, and academic PM&R professionals to share the latest information, innovative techniques, best practices, and new technologies. AAP 2015 covers a broad spectrum of cutting edge topics in academic physiatry. The meeting is packed with educational activities including educational sessions, cutting-edge keynote speakers, hands-on workshops, and scientific paper presentations along with over 400 poster board presentations showcasing the finest scientific innovations and research. To learn more about the Annual Meeting visit www.physiatry.org/AAP2015.
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