ReviewCureus2021
Image-Guided Versus Blind Corticosteroid Injections in Adults With Shoulder Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cureus, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Timing of corticosteroid injection within 1 year prior to rotator cuff repair was not associated with increased risk of repair failure.JSES international · 2026Article
- Tips and tricks in ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal interventional procedures.Journal of ultrasonography · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The present study aimed to compare the clinical effects of image-guided versus blind steroid injection to treat shoulder pain, which is always debatable. An electronic search of credible databases was conducted for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing image-guided versus blind steroid injections. The continuous data were pooled as mean difference (MD) or standardized mean difference (SMD), and dichotomous data were grouped as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Sensitivity analysis and leave-one-out analysis were performed. The meta-analysis of 20 RCTs comprising 1136 patients favored image-guided injection based on the MD of the visual analog score (VAS) and shoulder function scores, measured between six weeks follow-up and baseline (MD=0.63, 95% CI [0.13, 1.12], p=0.01 and SMD=0.35, 95% CI [0.05, 0.65], p=0.02, respectively). Meta-analysis did not favor either group regarding the shoulder disability scores or side effects (MD=-2.18, 95% CI [-12.19, 7.83], p=0.67, and OR=0.40, 95% CI [0.14, 1.15], p=0.09, respectively). The image-guided approach was associated with significant improvement in pain and shoulder functionality. However, no significant difference was observed between the two approaches in terms of disability scores and side effects.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.