Objective: To determine the therapeutic effect of paratendinous injection of aprotinin, a polyvalent inhibitor of inflammatory proteolytic enzyme, in patients with shoulder tendinitis. Method: Thirty patients with shoulder tendinitis diagnosed with ultrasonography were included. Patients were assigned to one of two groups at random to receive paratendinous injection. One group received a paratendinous aprotinin 1.5 ml and 1% lidocaine 2 ml injection of shoulder 2∼5 times at 1 week apart. The other group received a paratendinous injection one time with mixture of triamcinolone 40 mg and 1% lidocaine 2.5 ml. The effect of treatment was assessed with the visual analogue scale (VAS), and the patients' life activities were assessed with the Western Ontario rotator cuff (WORC) index. Results: The VAS of the two groups showed improvement at 1 week (aprotinin group: 2.9±0.7, triamcinolone group: 3.7±1.2) and 4 weeks (aprotinin group: 2.1±1.0, triamcinolone group: 2.4±1.0) after injection compared with pre- injection status (aprotinin group: 8.6±1.3, triamcinolone group: 8.2±1.3)(p＜0.01) and the WORC index of the two groups showed improvement at 1 week (aprotinin group: 36.5±7.8, triamcinolone group: 53.2±12.3) and 4 weeks (aprotinin group: 33.4±6.2, triamcinolone group: 31.4±8.8) after injection compared with pre-injection status (aprotinin group: 116.2±29.1, triamcinolone group: 123.5±37.0)(p＜ 0.01). There was no significant difference in the improvement of the VAS scores and WORC index between the two groups. Conclusion: The short term effect of paratendinous aprotinin injection in patients with shoulder tendinitis was as good as triamcinolone injection, although more frequent injection was necessary. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2008; 32: 56-61)
