Which is better for DeQuervain’s: Splinting or Injection?

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 Therapists29(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.

DeQuervain's

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

  1. Armand Ali on August 15, 2022 at 1:21 pm

    Great way of spreading many studies into a short outcome.

Leave a Comment






More To Read

Outcomes of Rigid Night Splinting and Activity Modification in the Treatment of Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

November 8, 2020

Shah, C. M., Calfee, R. P., Gelberman, R. H., & Goldfarb, C. A. (2013). Outcomes of rigid night splinting and activity modification in the treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome (night splint for cubital tunnel syndrome). The Journal of Hand Surgery, 38(6), 1125–1130.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhsa.2013.02.039 By: Sophia Grimm The Skinny: The purpose of this study was to…

Read More

Increase Shoulder Range by Improving Scapulohumeral Rhythm

March 21, 2021

Scapulohumeral rhythm is often the key component when treating shoulder conditions and the lack of total shoulder range of motion. This may also be a critical component to prevent shoulder conditions during the rehabilitation of other upper extremity conditions such as distal radius fractures, tendon injuries, and elbow injuries. Scapulohumeral rhythm is the rhythm in…

Read More

A Hand Therapist’s Role in Nutrition Education for Wound Healing

October 18, 2020

By Brittany Day Role of nutrition in wound healing Nutrition plays an important function in the biological factors that contribute to normal wound healing (wound care nutrition). Patients without nutrient dense diets may experience diminished cell production, collagen synthesis, and wound contraction.  There is sparse scientific evidence that explores the exact science behind nutrition and…

Read More

How to Improve Fine Motor Translation Skills

January 16, 2022

By: Josh MacDonald The Basics – I lay a pile of small objects on the table and an open container for the client to put them into. What object I use depends on the client’s level. We’ll get to that later. Then, they use a 2-point pincer grasp to pick up one and shift it…

Read More
Envelope_1

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.