C. Akermark et al., GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN POLYSULFATE INJECTIONS IN LATERAL HUMERAL EPICONDYLALGIA - A PLACEBO-CONTROLLED DOUBLE-BLIND TRIAL, International journal of sports medicine, 16(3), 1995, pp. 196-200
The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic benefit o
f local Glycosaminoglycan polysulfate (GAGPS) injections in the treatm
ent of chronic epicondylalgia. The study was conducted as a prospectiv
e, placebo-controlled double-blind trial. Sixty patients with a typica
l history of pain for at least 3 months who attended two private ortho
paedic clinics in Stockholm received 50 mg GAGPS or placebo injections
, one injection a week, for five weeks. The main outcome measures were
the patients' evaluation of pain in connection with daily activities
with a visual analogue scale and the number of treatment failures. The
follow-up period was six months. The difference in reduction of pains
core (VAS) ranging between 11.1 percentage units at the half-year foll
ow-up and 20.9 percentage units 2 weeks after the treatment period is
clinically good. The number of treatment failures in the GAGPS treatme
nt groups at the 6 week follow-up was only 4 (13%) compared with 12 (4
0%) of the placebo treated patients. At the half-year follow-up 5 of t
hose who received GAGPS had experienced a recurrency. The recurrency r
ate is thus smaller than most of those reported in controlled studies
with corticosteroids. In the GAGPS treated group 13 patients reported
on local pain after some injections, 2 cases combined with local haema
tomas, compared with 5 cases of local pain in the placebo group. The r
esults confirm previous good results of GAGPS injection therapy in sub
chronic and chronic peritendinitis.