Effectiveness of sub-acromial injections in rotator cuff injuries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Table 2 The main characteristics of the included studies for partial-thickness rotator cuff tears

Ref.	Technique	Follow-up			Intervention						Pain score	Functional score	Complementary imaging examination	Adverse effects
		S	M	L	PL	HA	PRP	HA+PRP	CE	PR
Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears
Cai et al[44]	Guided by US sub-acromial	Yes	Yes	Yes	47	44	45	48	-	-	VAS	ASES CMS	MRI	NE
Chou et al[45]	Not guided by US sub-acromial	Yes	No	Yes	26	25	-	-	-	-	VAS	CMS	NE	None
Kesikburun et al[46]	Guided by US intratendineous	Yes	Yes	Yes	20	-	20	-	-	-	VAS	ROM SPADIWORC	NE	NE
Moghtaderi et al[47]	Guided by US sub-acromial	Yes	Yes	No	20	20	-	-	-	-	VAS	CMS	NE	NE
Shams et al[48]	Not guided by US sub-acromial	Yes	Yes	No	-	-	20	-	20	-	NE	ASES CMS SST	MRI	NE
Schwitzguebel et al[49]	Guided by US sub-acromial	No	Yes	Yes	39	-	41	-	-	-	VAS	ASES CMS SANE	MRI	Local pain for more than 48h, frozen shoulder, and lesion progression
Kwong et al[50]	Guided by US sub-acromial	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	-	47	-	52	-	VAS	ASESWORC	US	None
Dadgostar et al[51]	Guided by US sub-acromial + intratendineous	Yes	Yes	No	-	-	30	-	28	-	VAS	DASHROMWORC	US	NE
Sari and Eroglu[52]	Guided by US sub-acromial	Yes	Yes	No	30	-	30	-	30	30	VAS	ASESWORC	NE	NE

S: Short-term; M: Medium-term; L: Long-term; PL: Placebo; HA: Hyaluronic acid; PRP: Platelet rich plasma; CE: Corticoid; PR: Prolotherapy; VAS: Visual Analogue Scale; CMS: Constant-Murley Score; ASES: American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Score; WORC: Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index; SPADI: Shoulder, Pain and Disability Index; ROM: Range of Motion; SST: Simple Shoulder Test; SANE: Single assessment numerical evaluation; DASH: Disabilities of arm, shoulder, and hand score; UCLA: University of California at Los Angeles Shoulder Score; SF-36: 36-item Short-Form Health Survey; SDQ: Shoulder disability questionnaire; US: Ultrasound; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; NE: Not evaluated.