Objective To compare treatment effects between ultrasound guided lavage with corticosteroid injection and sham lavage with and without corticosteroid injection in patients with calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder.
Design Pragmatic, three arm, parallel group, double blinded, sham controlled, randomised, superiority trial with repeated measurements over 24 months.
Setting Six hospitals in Norway and Sweden.
Participants 220 adults with calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder, persistent for at least three months.
Interventions Ultrasound guided deposit lavage plus subacromial injection of 20 mg triamcinolone acetonide and 9 mL 1% lidocaine hydrochloride (lavage+steroid); sham lavage plus subacromial injection of 20 mg triamcinolone acetonide and 9 mL 1% lidocaine hydrochloride (sham lavage+steroid); or sham lavage plus subacromial injection of 10 mL 1% lidocaine hydrochloride (sham). All patients received a physiotherapeutic treatment regimen consisting of four home exercises.
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