An observational study in Trigger Finger, sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Completed at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-25.
Sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital · Observational
Clinical outcomes after open trigger finger release are excellent. Minimally invasive techiques with ultrasound guidance theoretically offer advantages for faster recovery but this technique has not been compared prospectively with the standard of care (open trigger release). This study aims to prospectively analyze patient-reported outcomes in patients undergoing open vs. ultrasound-guided trigger finger release.
Trigger finger is initially treated conservatively. Conservative treatment options include modification of activities, painkiller administration, splinting, and corticosteroid injections (1). Open or minimally invasive surgical treatment can be considered if conservative treatment fails. Minimally invasive surgery options consist of ultrasound-guided or blind percutaneous trigger finger release.
Many studies have reported good clinical outcomes after ultrasound-guided trigger finger release, including low rates of catching or locking recurrence rates, high QuickDASH scores and high patient satisfaction (2-4).
Postoperative clinical outcomes of open surgery have been widely compared to percutaneous surgery (5-8). However, the comparison of postoperative results between ultrasound-guided and open trigger finger release has been scarcely reported. Nikolaou et al. reported that ultrasound-guided trigger finger release resulted in a significantly sooner return to normal activities and better patient-reported cosmetic outcomes than open trigger finger release (9). Success rates and mean QuickDASH scores did not differ significantly between these groups in this cohort.
The potential benefits of ultrasound-guided trigger finger release compared to open trigger finger release have yet to be investigated. This study aims to prospectively analyze patient-reported outcomes in patients undergoing open vs. ultrasound-guided trigger finger release.
93 studies on the registry are indexed under Trigger Finger Disorder; 22 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 60 is below the median of 68 across 14 observational studies indexed under Trigger Finger Disorder.
Browse Trigger Finger Disorder studies →Massachusetts General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,586 studies on the registry; 447 are open to participants now.
Of its 222 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 168 (76%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
patients undergoing trigger finger release for the index through small fingers was conducted from June 2023 through June 2024 at two tertiary care academic medical centers in an integrated health network
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.
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
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.
Relapsed and refractory
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Patients who underwent open trigger finger release
Patients who underwent ultrasound-guided trigger finger release
Device: UltraGuideTFR (Sonex Health, MN, USA)
SonexHealth percutaneous trigger finger release device used in ultrasound-guided release cohort
Activities of Daily Living (Study-specific questionnaire)
Study-specific survey of limitations with Activities of Daily Living. Responses for questions on the study-specific survey for limitations with ADLS utilized a Likert scale with 1 representing no difficulty with the task and 5 being unable to perform the task due to limitations from trigger finger symptoms. Likert scale responses for the 12 ADLs on the survey were summated for final scores ranging from 14 (no difficulty with any ADLs) to 70 (unable to perform any ADLs). These were standardized to a 100-point scale to facilitate clinical interpretation of outcomes. A score of 0 represented no functional limitations with ADLs and a score of 100 represented inability to perform any ADL on the survey.
Time frame: From enrollment to final follow-up at 6 months
Pain on the Visual Analogue Scale
VAS pain score on a scale from 1 to 10 with a score of 1 representating no pain and score or 10 representing maximal pain.
Time frame: From enrollment to final follow-up at 6 months
Timing of Return to work
Timing of return to work in days as reported by patient. Minimum value is 0 days, meaning patient reported returning to work on the day of the procedure. No maximum value applicable.
Time frame: From 2 days post-procedure to final follow-up at 6 months
Patient satisfaction with procedure
Patient reported satisfaction with procedure. Response of either yes or no to the following question: Are you satisfied with the procedure, and would you choose to have it again for a similar problem?
Time frame: Single evaluation at final follow-up 6 months post-procedure
Proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) flexion
Proximal interphalangeal (PIP) flexion measured with a goniometer and recorded in degrees. Minimum and maximum values within physiologic range of motion for the PIPJ.
Time frame: Assessments at the preoperative and two-week follow-up visits
PIPJ motion as evaluated by distance from fingertip to distal palmar crease in composite flexion
Distance in millimeters from fingertip to the distal palmar crease (DPC) in composite flexion. Minimum of 0 cm, maximum value of \>5 cm which represents absence of functionally meaningful finger flexion.
Time frame: Assessments at the preoperative and two-week follow-up visits
PIPJ flexion contracture (if present)
If present, PIPJ flexion contracture measured using a goniometer and recorded in degrees. Minimum value of 0 degrees representing absence of flexion contracture, maximum value within physiologic range of motion for the PIPJ.
Time frame: Assessments at the preoperative and two-week follow-up visits
Analegesia requirement
Pain medication requirement including acetaminophen, anti-inflammatories, and/or narcotics. Open response from patients for the following question: How many oxycodone or other narcotic medications are you taking post-op?
Time frame: From enrollment to final follow-up at 6 months
Grip Strength
Grip strength was evaluated using a Jamar dynamometer setting #2.
Time frame: Assessments at the preoperative and two week follow-up visits
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: Yes — Anonymized patient data can be shared upon reasonable request for transparency
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan, Informed consent form, Clinical study report, Analytic code
Time frame: January 2023 through January 2027
Access criteria: De-identified IPD will be available to qualified researchers who submit a methodologically sound proposal. Requests may be made to the principal investigator. Access will be provided through a secure data-sharing platform following execution of a data use agreement
Ran from Jun 2023 to primary completion in Jun 2024, 12 months.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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