Injection Therapy in the Management of Musculoskeletal Injuries: Hand and Wrist

Injections are valuable diagnostic and therapeutic nonoperative treatments for a myriad of painful conditions affecting the hand and wrist. Corticosteroid and analgesic preparations are frequently injected for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome, stenosing tenosynovitis, tendinopathy, and ganglion cysts, as well as for radiocarpal and basilar joint arthrosis. Although upper extremity surgeons frequently perform injections as part of their daily practice, other clinicians may not be as familiar with the appropriate indications and proper techniques required for injection therapy in the hand and wrist. The purpose of this review is to briefly describe the clinical presentation and evaluation of common hand and wrist conditions most frequently amenable to injection therapy. Appropriate indications for injections will be presented along with a detailed description of proper injection technique. Oper Tech Sports Med 20:132-141 (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.