Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23599320›Full record

Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2013

Impact of autologous blood injections in treatment of mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy: double blind randomised controlled trial.

Kevin J Bell, Mark L Fulcher, David S Rowlands, Ngaire Kerse

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
6.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Injection therapies for Achilles tendinopathy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
    Pooled it
  9. Trial
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  11. Ultrasound-guided dry needling with percutaneous paratenon decompression for chronic Achilles tendinopathy.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2016
    Trial
  12. Review
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  20. Dry Needling: A Clinical Commentary.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Kevin J BellSydney Sports Medicine Centre, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW 2127, Australia.
Mark L Fulcher
David S Rowlands
Ngaire Kerse
University of Auckland · NZMassey University · NZOlympic Park Sports Medicine Centre · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the effectiveness of two peritendinous autologous blood injections in addition to a standardised eccentric calf strengthening programme in improving pain and function in patients with mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy.

designSingle centre, participant and single assessor blinded, parallel group, randomised, controlled trial.

settingSingle sports medicine clinic in New Zealand.

participants53 adults (mean age 49, 53% men) with symptoms of unilateral mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy for at least three months. Participants were excluded if they had a history of previous Achilles tendon rupture or surgery or had undergone previous adjuvant treatments such as injectable therapies, glyceryl trinitrate patches, or extracorporeal shockwave therapy.

interventionsAll participants underwent two unguided peritendinous injections one month apart with a standardised protocol. The treatment group had 3 mL of their own whole blood injected while the control group had no substance injected (needling only). Participants in both groups carried out a standardised and monitored 12 week eccentric calf training programme. Follow-up was at one, two, three and six months.

main outcome measuresThe primary outcome measure was the change in symptoms and function from baseline to six months with the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) score. Secondary outcomes were the participant's perceived rehabilitation and their ability to return to sport.

results26 participants were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 27 to the control group. In total, 50 (94%) completed the six month study, with 25 in each group. Clear and clinically worthwhile improvements in the VISA-A score were evident at six months in both the treatment (change in score 18.7, 95% confidence interval 12.3 to 25.1) and control (19.9, 13.6 to 26.2) groups. The overall effect of treatment was not significant (P=0.689) and the 95% confidence intervals at all points precluded clinically meaningful benefit or harm. There was no significant difference between groups in secondary outcomes or in the levels of compliance with the eccentric calf strengthening programme. No adverse events were reported.

conclusionThe administration of two unguided peritendinous autologous blood injections one month apart, in addition to a standardised eccentric training programme, provides no additional benefit in the treatment of mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy.

trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12610000824066, WHO U1111-1117-2641.

Indexed as

Achilles TendonAdultBlood Transfusion, AutologousDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNew ZealandPain ManagementPatient ComplianceProspective StudiesResistance TrainingTendinopathyTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID23599320
PMCPMC3629924
OpenAlexW2080202332

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.