Clinical evaluation of sodium hyaluronate for the treatment of patients with rotator cuff tear

Abstract A randomized study of two types of conservative treatment of 78 shoulders in 78 patients with rotator cuff tears was performed. Twenty-five milligrams of sodium hyaluronate (SH) was injected into shoulders in one group (SH group) and 2 mg of dexamethasone was injected in the other group (steroid group). Injection of each drug was planned for once per week for 5 consecutive weeks. In the SH group, University of California at Los Angeles score before treatment was 13.6 ± 2.6 points in 16 patients who did not require surgery (satisfied patients) and 12.8 ± 3.5 points in 22 patients who required surgery (unsatisfied patients) (not statistically significant). In the steroid group, University of California at Los Angeles score before treatment was 11.9 ± 3.6 points for 15 satisfied patients and 12.6 ± 3.9 points for 25 unsatisfied patients (again, not statistically significant). In the SH group, the score at 4 weeks after treatment for satisfied patients increased to 27.6 ± 3.1 points, whereas that for unsatisfied patients was 14.9 ± 1.2 points (P