Tendinopathie calcanéenne et sport : place des injections d'aprotinine

Current treatment options for tendinopathy

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD

Tendon disorders are frequent and are responsible for much morbidity, both in sport and the workplace. Although several therapeutic options are routinely used, very few well-conducted randomised prospective, placebo, controlled trials have been performed to assist in choosing the best evidence-based management.

AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW

We performed a comprehensive search of PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Embase databases over the years 1966 - 2010 to review the best evidence-based options for the management of patients with tendinopathy.

WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN

The reader will obtain information on the available medical and surgical therapies used to manage tendinopathy-related symptoms. The effectiveness of therapies, the length of management and the adverse effects are examined.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

Management of tendinopathy is often anecdotic and lacking well-researched scientific evidence. Teaching patients to control the symptoms may be more beneficial than leading them to believe that tendinopathy is fully curable.

Delay of 6 weeks between aprotinin injections for tendinopathy reduces risk of allergic reaction

Aprotinin is a collagenase inhibitor previously shown to be effective for treating tendinopathies but associated with systemic allergic reactions. This historical cohort study aimed to determine whether or not the injection regime used affected the risk of allergic reaction and outcome. It compared 223 tendinopathy cases (group R) generally treated with a rapid series of aprotinin injections spaced one to two weekly and 158 cases (group D) generally given a single injection or a delay in their repeat injection(s) of over 6 weeks. Side effects and outcome measures were documented by questionnaire with a response rate of 75%. Systemic allergic reactions occurred in 7% of group R cases compared with 2% in group D (NS). Injections given 2-4 weeks after a previous injection were significantly more likely to lead to allergic reactions (6%) than initial injections (0.3%) and injections given >6 weeks after a previous injection (0.9%) (P<0.05). Overall patient rated satisfaction and outcome measures were similar between groups. In summary the current published regime of multiple aprotinin injections over a period of a few weeks has a fairly high rate of systemic allergic reactions. This can be reduced by minimising repeat injections and recommending a delay of at least 6 weeks between injections. Practitioners using aprotinin must have available facilities to treat anaphylaxis.