Table 4 – Qualitative synthesis of results and overview of evidence
| Â | DOMAIN | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pain | Ultrasound Identified Abnormalities and Vascularity | ||||||||
B Mode Ultrasound | Doppler Ultrasound | ||||||||
Visual Analogue Scale (units not specified) | Entheseal Thickness (mm) | Bursitis (n) | Bone Erosion (n) | Enthesophyte (n) | Entheseal Hypoecho-genicity (n) | Peri-tendinous Oedema (n) | Entheseal Vascularity (Grade) | Bursal Vascularity (Grade) | |
Huang et al. [26] | Baseline: 5.3 ± 0.7 Week 2: 0.8 ± 1.0 Week 4: 0.5 ± 0.6 Week 8: 1.1 ± 1.1 Week 12: 1.5 ± 0.8 p < 0.05 (mean ± SD) | Baseline: 7.6 ± 3.1 Week 2: 6.3 ± 2.4 Week 4: 6.2 ± 2.1 Week 8: 6.2 ± 1.9 Week 12: 6.2 ± 1.9 p > 0.05 (mean ± SD) | Baseline: 7 detected Week 2: 4 detected Week 4: 3 detected Week 8: 3 detected Week 12: 3 detected p > 0.05 | Baseline: 4 detected Week 2: 4 detected Week 4: 4 detected Week 8: 4 detected Week 12: 4 detected p > 0.05 | Baseline: 1 detected Week 2: 1 detected Week 4: 1 detected Week 8: 1 detected Week 12: 1 detected p > 0.05 | N/A | N/A | Baseline: Grade 1: 0 Grade 2: 2 Grade 3: 3 Grade 4: 2 Week 2: Grade 1: 2 Grade 2: 4 Grade 3: 1 Grade 4: 0 Week 4: Grade 1: 4 Grade 2: 3 Grade 3: 0 Grade 4: 0 Week 8: Grade 1: 3 Grade 2: 3 Grade 3: 1 Grade 4: 0 Week 12: Grade 1: 2 Grade 2: 4 Grade 3: 2 Grade 4: 0 | N/A |
Srivastava & Aggarwal [27] | Baseline: 7 (4–10) Week 6: 3 (0–7) p < 0.0001 (mean [range]) | Baseline: 6.9 (5.6–9.8) Week 6: 6.1 (4–9.8) p < 0.0001 (mean [range]) | Baseline: 26 detected Week 6: 15 detected p < 0.001 | Baseline: 24 detected Week 6: 24 detected p > 0.05 | Baseline: 3 detected Week 6: 3 detected p > 0.05 | Baseline: 27 detected Week 6: 19 detected p = 0.02 | Baseline: 17 detected Week 6: 5 detected p > 0.05 | Baseline: 2 (0–3) Week 6: 0 (0–3) p < 0.0001 (mean [grade range]) | Baseline: 2 (0–3) Week 6: 0 (0–3) p < 0.0001 (mean [grade range]) |
Level of Evidence | Weak evidence for corticosteroid injections reducing pain as 2 studies report consistent findings | Weak evidence for corticosteroid injections decreasing entheseal thickness as 2 studies report consistent findings | Weak evidence for corticosteroid injections decreasing the presence of bursitis as 2 studies report consistent findings | Weak evidence for corticosteroid injections not improving the number of bone erosions as 2 studies report consistent findings | Weak evidence for corticosteroid injections not improving the number of enthesophytes as 2 studies report consistent findings | Inconclusive due to lack of studies | Inconclusive due to lack of studies | Weak evidence for corticosteroid injections reducing entheseal vascularity in Achilles enthesis as 2 studies report consistent findings | Inconclusive due to lack of studies |