Common Achilles tendon injections offer no benefit over placebo clinical trial finds

Commonly used injections for Achilles tendinopathy offer no meaningful clinical advantage over a placebo treatment, Medical Xpress reported. The condition causes pain, stiffness, and swelling in the Achilles tendon. The findings come from a clinical trial published in The BMJ. [1]

According to Medical Xpress, the results show that high volume injections delivering saline, local anesthetic, and sometimes a low dose of corticosteroid around the tendon did not improve pain and disability compared with a sham injection. Patients evaluated in the study showed no significant improvement at 12 months. [1]

The Achilles tendon links muscle to bone in the leg, named after the mythical hero Achilles who embodied the tragic hero archetype in Homeric epic literature. [3]

Medical Xpress noted that these injections did not yield better outcomes than sham procedures, raising questions about the continued routine use of high volume injections for long term Achilles tendon treatment. [1]