National Utilization Patterns of Steroid Injection and Operative Intervention for Treatment of Common Hand Conditions

To conduct a population-level analysis of practice trends and probability of surgery based on the number of steroid injections for common hand conditions.

Patients aged at least 18 years receiving injection or surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), trigger finger (TF), or de Quervain tenovaginitis (DQ) were identified for inclusion using the 2009 to 2013 Truven MarketScan databases. The researchers counted the number of injections performed and calculated the time between injection and operation for patients receiving both treatments. A multivariable logistic regression model was created to evaluate the odds of undergoing surgery based on the number of injections performed, controlling for patient age, sex, comorbidities, and insurance type.

The study sample included 251,030 patients who underwent steroid injection or operative release for CTS (n = 129,917), TF (n = 102,778), and DQ (n = 18,335). Most patients with CTS were managed with immediate surgery (71%), whereas most patients with TF and DQ were managed initially with injection (74% and 84%, respectively). Among patients receiving both an injection and an operation, a single injection was the most common practice before surgery (69%, 58%, and 67% of patients with CTS, TF, and DQ, respectively). Multiple injections for DQ and TF were associated with relatively low predicted probability of surgery (17% and 26%, respectively, after 2 injections). However, the predicted probability of surgery after 2 injections was higher in patients with CTS (44%).

Given the associated probability of surgery after multiple injections for the 3 hand conditions examined, the practice of repeat injections should be critically examined to determine whether underuse or overuse is present and whether efficiency and use of resources can be improved upon.

Prognostic II.