Abstract: Background: De Quervain’s tenosynovitis is an overuse disease that involves a thickening of the extensor retinaculum, which covers the first dorsal compartment. This can be managed very well medically and surgical treatment is rarely needed. Different studies have shown the effectiveness of local corticosteroid injection, splinting or both. This study was performed to compare the outcome of corticosteroid injection against splinting for the treatment of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis.
Methods: This prospective comparative study was conducted from May 2019 to June 2020 in the out patient department. A total of 98 patients with De-Quervain’s tenosynovitis were treated with either of these methods:
1. Corticosteroid injection in first dorsal compartment of wrist,
2. Splinting, local ice or hot compression and topical Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAIDs) gel.
Results: In the first group, a total of 49 patients were included (corticosteroid injection), and 49 patients in the second group (splinting, local ice or hot compression and topical Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory (NSAIDs) gel). There were 82 women and 16 men. Overall success rate was 82.71% in the first and 65.31% in the second groups, with a significant difference for both groups with respect to pain score and cure rate (P< 0.05). Temporary pain was the most common adverse reaction at the site of injection and was noted in most of the patients.
Conclusion: Though steroid injection has excellent outcome, splinting can be an alternative viable treatment option for DQ especially in patients with low grade disease or reluctant to injection because of fear of probable adverse reactions.
