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No superiority of dextrose injections over placebo injections for Osgood–Schlatter disease: a prospective randomized double-blind study

  • Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Osgood–Schlatter disease (OSD) is a traction apophysitis of the tibial tuberosity. Patellar tendinopathy and deep infrapatellar bursitis have recently been shown to contribute to pain in patients with OSD. We compared the effects of dextrose injection and saline injection.

Methods

We performed a clinical trial from April 2012 to January 2016 and included 49 knees from 37 boys and 1 girl (mean age, 12.3 ± 1.1 years) for whom conventional conservative therapy for > 1 month was ineffective. They were randomly assigned to receive double-blind injections of 1% lidocaine (1 mL) with 20% dextrose (1 mL; dextrose group) or 1% lidocaine (1 mL) with saline (1 mL; saline group). Injections were administered monthly for 3 months by a single investigator. The Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment (VISA) score was used to evaluate anterior knee pain.

Results

Overall, 43 knees were included; 6 knees were lost to follow-up. The mean pre-injection VISA scores in the dextrose and saline groups were 58.7 ± 18.3 and 63.4 ± 16.4, respectively. No significant differences were found between the two groups at any time point. The mean VISA score before injections significantly increased at the 1-month follow-up in both groups (P < .01). The injection had no adverse effects.

Conclusions

We were not able to show the efficacy of dextrose injections compared to that of saline.

Level of evidence

Randomized controlled trial. Level I.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa, 920-8641, Japan

    Junsuke Nakase, Takeshi Oshima, Yasushi Takata, Kengo Shimozaki, Kazuki Asai & Hiroyuki Tsuchiya

Authors
  1. Junsuke Nakase
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  2. Takeshi Oshima
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  3. Yasushi Takata
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  4. Kengo Shimozaki
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  5. Kazuki Asai
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  6. Hiroyuki Tsuchiya
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Contributions

JN: prepared the most part of the submitted text (main author) and directed the submitted study, and contributed to the preparation of the Discussion part (corresponding author). TO, YT, KS, and KA: contributed to the discussion on the study design and the preparation of the Materials and methods part. HT: contributed to the discussion on the study design and the preparation of the Discussion part.

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Correspondence to Junsuke Nakase.

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Nakase, J., Oshima, T., Takata, Y. et al. No superiority of dextrose injections over placebo injections for Osgood–Schlatter disease: a prospective randomized double-blind study. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 140, 197–202 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-019-03297-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00402-019-03297-2

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