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Transcatheter arterial tendinopathy embolization as a treatment for painful and refractory tendinopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Objective

Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) is a novel minimally invasive therapy for painful tendinopathy in patients with pain refractory to conservative management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate evidence on the efficacy of TAE for tendinopathy related pain.

Materials and Methods

Using Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to identify studies evaluating TAE for painful tendinopathy. The primary outcome measure was change in pain scale score at 6 months. A Ratio of Means (ROM) was used to compare the effect size post treatment as compared to baseline. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used as the metric for comparison.

Results

After screening titles, abstracts, and the full text, 5 studies met inclusion criteria. A total of 97 tendinopathy embolization procedures performed in 74 patients were included. Patients who underwent TAE demonstrated declines in VAS ROM at 1 day 0.53 [95% CI 0.31,0.88], 1 week (0.51 [95% CI 0.32,0.79]), 1 month (0.45 [95% CI 0.29, 0.71]), 3–4 months (0.33 [95% CI 0.22,0.48]), and 6 months following embolization (0.18[95% CI 0.13,0.26]), respectively.

Discussion

TAE provides substantial short-term reductions in pain scores for patients suffering with refractory tendinopathy related pain of the rotator cuff, elbow extensor and flexor, Achilles, and patellar tendons.

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Funding

This study was not supported by any funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Angiography and Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Yan Epelboym, Colette Glaser, Ezra Burch & Timothy Killoran

  2. Center for Clinical Investigation, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Zhou Lan

  3. Division of Musculoskeletal Imaging and Intervention, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Jacob C. Mandell

  4. Department of Radiology, Boston University School of Medicine, 820 Harrison Avenue, FGH Building, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA, 02118, USA

    Ali Guermazi

Authors
  1. Yan Epelboym
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  2. Colette Glaser
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  3. Zhou Lan
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  4. Jacob C. Mandell
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  5. Ezra Burch
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  6. Timothy Killoran
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  7. Ali Guermazi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yan Epelboym.

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Ethical approval

This study does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Conflict of interest

Y.E. has received consultancies from Boston Imaging Core Lab (BICL).

A.G. has received consultancies, speaking fees, and/or honoraria from Novartis, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Coval, Medipost, ICM, and TrialSpark, and is a shareholder of BICL.

None of the other authors have declared any competing interests.

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Epelboym, Y., Glaser, C., Lan, Z. et al. Transcatheter arterial tendinopathy embolization as a treatment for painful and refractory tendinopathy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Skeletal Radiol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-024-04649-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-024-04649-9

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