Outcomes of Corticosteroid Treatment for Trigger Finger by Stage

Although steroid injection remains a common first-line treatment of trigger finger, clinical experience suggests that not all cases of trigger finger respond the same. The purpose of this study was to use a classification system for trigger finger that is simple and reproducible, and produces clearly definable, clinically relevant cutoff points to determine whether responsiveness to steroid injection correlates to clinical staging.

The authors conducted a prospectively collected longitudinal study of trigger finger patients separated into four stages of severity. Each subject received a single injection of 6 mg of dexamethasone acetate. One-month outcomes were analyzed to evaluate the efficacy of steroid injection. These outcomes were further stratified based on baseline characteristics and stage of triggering.

A total of 99 digits and 69 subjects were included. Two variables were found to be significant in predicting response to initial injection: (1) multiple affected digits and (2) stage severity. Patients with multiple involved fingers were 5.8 times more likely to have no resolution of symptoms compared with those with a single affected finger. For every level of stage increase, the odds doubled for having no resolution of symptoms.

Steroid injection remains a viable first-line option for patients presenting with mild triggering (stage 1 and 2). For more severe triggering (stage 3 and 4) or multiple affected digits, the success of steroid injection is significantly lower at 1 month. For the latter patients, surgery may be a more reasonable initial treatment.

Risk, II.