Education and Visual Information Improves Effectiveness of Ultrasound-Guided Local Injections on Shoulder Pain and Associated Anxiety Level: A Randomized Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVE: Local injections are widely used in patients with a painful shoulder. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible impact of patients' visual information on the effectiveness of ultrasound (US)-guided local injections on anxiety levels and shoulder pain. DESIGN: A total of 151 patients, scheduled for local injection owing to shoulder pain, were randomly assigned into two groups in a consecutive order. Patients in group I (n = 72) were provided information related to US findings and allowed to watch the procedures from the monitor, whereas patients in group II (n = 79) received the injection only without any collaboration. Data were collected from both groups immediately before and after injections through visual analog scale and questionnaire (the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] forms 1 and 2). RESULTS: US-guided local injections provided significant improvement of anxiety and pain in both groups, irrespective of providing visual information. Group I and group II comparisons with respect to the visual analog scale, STAI 1, and STAI 2 yielded significant difference only for postinjection STAI 2 in group I (P = 0.006). Intragroup comparisons revealed significant differences between preinjection and postinjection values (group I: visual analog scale, P = 0.001; STAI form 1, P = 0.001; STAI form 2, P = 0.002; group II: visual analog scale, P = 0.001; STAI form 1, P = 0.002; STAI form 2, P = 0.042). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of postinjection satisfaction levels from the procedures (P = 0.824). CONCLUSIONS: Performing US-guided shoulder injections with patient visual information provides positive contributions to coping with pain and anxiety. In particular, the patient collaboration-based US-guided injections have positive consequences on patients' long-standing "trait-anxiety" levels.

Ultrasonographic measurement of femoral cartilage thickness in acromegalic patients.

Joint involvement is one of the most frequent clinical complications of acromegaly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the femoral cartilage thicknesses of acromegalic patients using ultrasound (US). Sixty-two patients diagnosed with acromegaly (30 F, 32 M) were included. Patients' demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. The thickness of the femoral articular cartilage was measured using a 6- to 18-MHz linear probe. Measurements were performed bilaterally from three points (medial condyle, intercondylar area, and lateral condyle). Of the patients, 14 (22.5 %) reported pain in the knee joints. A significantly higher femoral articular cartilage thickness was determined in the patients compared with the controls (all parameters, p < 0.001). US measurements results from all points were consistent, but these values were not correlated with levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Analysis of acromegaly patients as active (n = 37) or inactive (n = 25) revealed no significance with respect to femoral cartilage thickness. Acromegalic patients seem to have thicker femoral articular cartilages irrespective of disease activity state.