Lavage Was No Better Than Sham Lavage for Calcific Shoulder Tendinopathy

Calcific tendinopathy of the shoulder, a painful condition associated with calcium deposits in the rotator cuff tendons, is understood poorly and often is self-limited. In recent years, many clinicians have treated patients with this condition by using ultrasound-guided lavage of the calcific deposits (i.e., puncturing the lesion and flushing out calcium with normal saline) combined with intrabursal steroid injection. In cohort studies and unblinded randomized trials, researchers have reported good results with this treatment, but randomized trials with sham controls are lacking.

Investigators randomized 220 patients with shoulder pain for at least 3 months and radiologic evidence of calcific tendinopathy to one of three treatments: Ultrasou…