Which is better for DeQuervain’s: Splinting or Injection?
Filed under Reviews
Rapid Review
Cavaleri, R., Schabrun, S. M., Te, M., & Chipchase, L. S. (2016). Hand therapy versus corticosteroid injections in de Quervain’s disease treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of hand therapy: official journal of the American Society of Hand Therapists, 29(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2015.10.004
The Skinny: DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis is a stenosing tenosynovial inflammation affecting the abductor pollicis longus and the extensor pollicis brevis in the 1st dorsal compartment. The treatment varies from conservative the surgical, and this review focuses on conservative treatment.

The authors performed a systematic review to compare the effectiveness of steroid injections with 1.) hand therapy splinting alone, 2.) hand therapy splinting with steroid injections, and 3.) steroid alone in treating DeQuervain’s.
In the Weeds: A total of 6 articles were included in the review, which included 334 patients. The mean age of patients was between 27 and 44 years. Three studies compared steroid injections with splinting, and three compared splinting with injections alone. No studies were included that looked at other forms of therapy such as physical agent modalities, exercise, and manual therapy. The time the splint was worn was not specified in the studies.
Bringing It Home: Both groups, including the corticosteroid injection and splinting group, improved overall function and decreased pain. More patients were treated successfully when combined splinting and steroid injection were used together.
Rating: 4/5 The study’s limitations include the lack of specification on the type of splint used and the specific regime. The outcomes measures did not look at the quality of life; instead, they focused on treatment success rate and pain relief. Research into different treatment regimes is needed to make sound recommendations for splinting duration.
1 Comment
Leave a Comment
More To Read
Why Burnout Happens in Hand Therapy and What We Can Do About It.
Why Burnout Happens in Hand Therapy There are several reasons why burnout can occur, this is especially true for healthcare workers. What We Can Do About It Final Thought:Burnout isn’t a personal failure, it is often a systemic issue. But we do have power over how we respond. As hand therapists, we are experts at…
Surgery & Hand Therapy Highlights for Dupuytren’s Disease
Dupuytren’s disease affects the fascia of the hand (Dupuytren’s fasciectomy hand). It is relatively common to encounter patients with Dupuytren’s condition, even if that is not the primary reason you are treating the patient. Patients often present with a nodule(s) in the palm of the hand, or they may even have a thickened cord running…
Sesamoid Bones: What are they and what do they do?
By Brittany Carrie A Student’s Perspective During the first few weeks of my rotation, I was exposed to many new and exciting things that I had not been exposed to in the classroom setting. I observed and helped treat patients who had undergone severe trauma from lacerating tendons to complete amputations, saw different splinting techniques,…
Rapid Review: Is Finger Splinting Necessary after Flexor Tendon Repair?
Outcome of Flexor Tendon Repair Using Eight-Strand Core Stitch Without Postoperative Finger Splinting Reference: El-Gammal, T. A., Kotb, M. M., Ragheb, Y. F., El-Gammal, Y. T., & Anwar, M. M. (2024). Outcome of Flexor Tendon Repair Using Eight-Strand Core Stitch Without Postoperative Finger Splinting. HAND. https://doi.org/10.1177/15589447231220686 The Skinny: The purpose of this study was to…
Sign-up to Get Updates Straight to Your Inbox!
Sign up with us and we will send you regular blog posts on everything hand therapy, notices every time we upload new videos and tutorials, along with handout, protocols, and other useful information.
Great way of spreading many studies into a short outcome.