Every surgeon likes to cut. It is therefore nice to see what happens if we refrain from cutting. The image is CC by Andrew E. Russell

Surgical treatment for trigger finger consists of cleaving the A1 pulley, a simple procedure, considered to be low risk. Even so, there can still be scar tenderness, nerve injury, tendon bowing, and infection. It is therefore nice to see Wojahn et al.’s paper on long-term follow-up after cortisone injections.  Injection is a simple alternative that consists of an injection angling 45° distally at the A1 pulley with 1 mL 40 mg/mL Depo-Medrol.

The study consisted of over 350 patients with first-time injections. The patients were followed at a minimum of 5 years. 45% of patients were considered a success, where failure was defined as subsequent injection or surgery.  Females with only one affected finger exhibited the best results with 2/3:rds succeeding. Also interesting was that 4 out of 5 failures occurred within 2 years.

In summary: a nice study with results easy to convey to the patient. We have too many short-term studies, we need to start looking towards the horizon as Wojahn et al. did.