In comparison to existing trials of injection and exercise interventions for SIS, the strengths of the SUPPORT trial are its size, long-term follow-up and inclusion of an individualised, supervised and progressed exercise programme which builds upon existing guidelines [ 4] to optimise treatment outcome [ 12- 15] and inclusion of a cost-effectiveness analysis.
More recently, Hay et al conducted a randomized controlled trial of corticosteroid injection versus physiotherapy in 207 patients from nine general practices Britain [ 11].
Other reports have confirmed the anabolic nature of FGF18 and an ongoing clinical trial of intraarticular injection of recombinant FGF18 in osteoarthritis is currently being conducted by Merck Serono (reviewed in [ 3]).
Since the first clinical trial of BMC injection in 1995 [ 3], more than 2,000 patients have been administered with allogeneic or autologous MSCs for the treatment of various diseases, including graft-versus-host disease, hematologic malignancies, cardiovascular diseases, neurologic diseases, autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation, refractory wounds, and bone/cartilage defects [ 4].
A randomized trial of steroid injections for back pain has shown that they are no more effective than a placebo.
We report a non-inferiority trial of Durolane (one injection) versus Artz (five injections) over 18 and 26 weeks.
We will exclude trials of BV injection into parts of the body or ashi-points.
The criteria for inclusion of studies in our review encompassed all clinical trials of PRP injection conducted on humans with patellar tendinopathy.
Meta-analyses of trials of subacromial injection of corticosteroids for rotator cuff disease have shown a beneficial effect over placebo, while evidence for other interventions is lacking [ 6, 8, 9].
Previous reports from therapeutic trials of intraspinal injection of stem cells were not able to demonstrate the presence or localization of cells in living patients due to the lack of intracellular markers that could be identified by imaging.
