Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34020672›Full record

Trial reportJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2021

Corticosteroids or platelet-rich plasma injections for rotator cuff tendinopathy: a randomized clinical trial study.

Haleh Dadgostar, Farinaz Fahimipour, Alireza Pahlevan Sabagh, Peyman Arasteh, Mohammad Razi

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
7.7field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. The Association Between ThreeInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Haleh DadgostarSports Medicine Department, Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Farinaz FahimipourSports Medicine Department, Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Farinaz.fahimipour@gmail.com.
Alireza Pahlevan SabaghDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Peyman ArastehShiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Mohammad RaziDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Rasoul Akram Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Iran University of Medical Sciences · IRShiraz University of Medical Sciences · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundStudies evaluating the role of both corticosteroids and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of rotator cuff (RC) tendinopathies have been contradicting. We compared structural and clinical changes in RC muscles after corticosteroids and PRP injections.

methodsThis is a randomized double-blind clinical trial. All individuals with diagnosis of RC tendinitis during 2014-2017 were considered. Individuals were randomly allocated to either receive PRP or corticosteroids. Overall, 3cc of PRP was injected within the subacromial joint and another 3cc was injected at the site of the tendon tear, under the guide of sonography. For the corticosteroid group, 1cc of Depo-medrol 40mg and 1cc of lidocaine (2%) was injected within the subacromial joint.

resultsOverall, 58 patients entered the study. Comparison of pain, range of motion (ROM), Western Ontario RC (WORC), Disability of Arm-Hand-Shoulder (DASH) scores, and supraspinatus thickness showed significant improvement during follow-ups in both groups (p<0.05). During 3 months of follow-up, pain improvement was significantly better within the PRP group during (from 6.66±2.26 to 3.08±2.14 and 5.53±1.80 to 3.88±1.99, respectively; p=0.023). Regarding ROM, the PRP group had significant improvement in adduction (20.50°±8.23° to 28°±3.61° and 23.21°±7.09° to 28.46°±4.18° for the PRP and corticosteroid groups, respectively; p=0.011) and external rotation (59.66°±23.81° to 76.66°±18.30° and 57.14°±24.69° to 65.57°±26.39°, for the PRP and corticosteroid groups, respectively; p=0.036) compared to the corticosteroid group.

conclusionWe found that PRP renders similar results to that of corticosteroids in most clinical aspects among patients with RC tendinopathies; however, pain and ROM may show more significant improvement with the use of PRP. Considering that the use of corticosteroids may be contraindicated in some patients and may be associated with the risk of tendon rupture, we suggest the use of PRP in place of corticosteroid-based injections among patients with RC tendinopathy.

trial registrationClinical trial registration code: IRCT201302174251N9.

Indexed as

Platelet-Rich PlasmaAdrenal Cortex HormonesAgedContraindications, DrugDouble-Blind MethodFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansInjections, IntralesionalMaleMiddle AgedRange of Motion, ArticularRotator CuffRotator Cuff InjuriesTreatment OutcomeAdrenal Cortex HormonesCorticosteroidPlatelet-rich plasmaRotator cuffSupraspinatusTendinopathy

Identifiers

PMID34020672
PMCPMC8139041
OpenAlexW3161411817

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.