Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39954053›Full record

ArticleInternational orthopaedics2025

The efficacy of intra-articular corticosteroid injections for elbow arthritis: a retrospective cohort study.

John Carney, Sara Ungerleider, Joseph Tanenbaum, Jeremy Marx, Bejan Alvandi, Matthew Saltzman, Ken Yamaguchi, Guido Marra

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Article in International orthopaedics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

John CarneyNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA. john.carney@nm.org.
Sara UngerleiderNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.
Joseph TanenbaumNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.
Jeremy MarxNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.
Bejan AlvandiNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.
Matthew SaltzmanNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.
Ken YamaguchiNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.
Guido MarraNorthwestern University, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe goal of this study was to report the duration of pain relief and need for subsequent surgical intervention following intra-articular steroid injection of the elbow in the setting of arthritis.

methodsThe authors' institutional database was accessed to identify patients who underwent a corticosteroid injection of the elbow for arthritis. For included patients, demographic information, steroid dosage, duration of symptoms relief, complications, and progression to surgical management were recorded. A chi-squared or Fisher exact test was utilized for categorical variables while a two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) or Wilcoxon ranked sum test was utilized for continuous variables as appropriate. Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05.

resultsThere were 67 patients included in the study who underwent between one and 14 injections. Patients experienced some degree of pain relief 80% of the time for an average of 12.5 (range 0-64) weeks after their first injections. There was only one documented complication following steroid injection. Twenty-one (7.9%) patients ultimately underwent surgical intervention for their elbow arthritis. Younger age was associated with progression to surgical intervention (p = 0.01).

conclusionCorticosteroid injections to the elbow are an effective method of pain control in patients with elbow arthritis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

Indexed as

Adrenal Cortex HormonesArthritisElbow JointGlucocorticoidsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesFemaleHumansInjections, Intra-ArticularMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementRetrospective StudiesTreatment OutcomeAdrenal Cortex HormonesGlucocorticoidsArthritisCorticosteroidElbowInjectionPain

Identifiers

PMID39954053

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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.