A Phase 3 interventional study of 1ml of triamcinolone (40mg/1ml) in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, De Quervains Tenosynovitis and Trigger Finger, sponsored by University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust. Terminated at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-17.
Sponsored by University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust · Phase 3, Interventional, and Other
Some hand conditions can be treated with a steroid injection. Some doctors mix the steroid with local anaesthetic in the hope that the patient will experience less pain after the injection. Some doctors do not do this. It is not known if adding local anaesthetic to the steroid improves patient's pain after the injection.
The overall aim of the study is to see whether using local anaesthetic in the steroid injection makes a difference to patients' pain. If the study shows that using local anaesthetic improves patients' pain then the investigators should continue using it. If not, the investigators should stop giving patients unnecessary medication, which would also save the NHS time and money.
This study is a single site, patient and assessor blinded, non-inferiority randomised control trial of patients with a clinical diagnosis of trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome, treated with a corticosteroid injection co-administered with or without local anaesthetic.
The aim is to determine whether pain experienced during the 24 hours after a corticosteroid injection to the hand and wrist is no worse than (not inferior to) the pain experienced after a corticosteroid and local anaesthetic injection.
The primary outcome is to investigate whether there is a difference in pain VAS scores at 1-hour after a corticosteroid injection for trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome co-administered with or without local anaesthetic. Secondary outcomes look at differences in pain VAS scores within the first 24-hours after the injection, at the time of the injection and enquires about effects on hand function.
Patients attending elective hand and wrist outpatient clinics at the University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust with a clinical diagnosis of trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis and carpal tunnel syndrome will be screen for eligibility for recruitment.
All patients over the age 18 years old with a clinical diagnosis of trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome and who are able to give written informed consent for treatment will be included. Patients will be excluded if they have had previous surgery or corticosteroid injection for the condition being treated at the site considered for injection. A previous corticosteroid injection elsewhere in the hand does not exclude a patient from the trial. Those who are pregnant, breast-feeding or who have a history of hypersensitivity to corticosteroid or local anaesthetic will be excluded.
The study will run for a 12-month period or until 100 patients have been recruited to the trial.
587 studies on the registry are indexed under Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; 134 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 25 is below the median of 60 across 443 interventional studies indexed under Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Browse Carpal Tunnel Syndrome studies →University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust is the lead sponsor of 53 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Single injection of 1ml of triamcinolone (40mg/1ml)
Drug: 1ml of triamcinolone (40mg/1ml)
Single injection of 1ml of triamcinolone (40mg/1ml) + 1ml 1% Lidocaine
Drug: 1ml of triamcinolone (40mg/1ml)
Single injection of 1ml of triamcinolone (40mg/1ml)
Pain visual analog scale scores at 1 hour
Investigate whether there is a difference in pain visual analog scale scores (where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain possible) at 1-hour after a corticosteroid injection for trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome co-administered with or without local anaesthetic.
Time frame: 1 hour
Pain visual analog scale scores during 24 hours
Investigate whether there is a difference in pain visual analog scale scores (where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain possible) during the 24-hours after a corticosteroid injection for trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome co-administered with or without local anaesthetic.
Time frame: 24 hours
Pain visual analog scale score at the time of injection
Investigate whether there is a difference in the pain visual analog scale scores (where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain possible) at the time of the corticosteroid injection for trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome co-administered with or without local anaesthetic.
Time frame: Immediate
Pain and functional loss
Investigate the difference in the additional analgesia required and in the functional use of the hand during the first 3 hours following a corticosteroid injection for trigger finger, de Quervains tenosynovitis or carpal tunnel syndrome co-administered with or without local anaesthetic.
Time frame: 3 hours
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No
Ran from Feb 2020 to primary completion in Jan 2025, 58 months.
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This study is terminated, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust