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Glucocorticosteroid injections into the shoulder are commonly used in the treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis. These injections rarely result in any serious complications and are generally considered a safe therapeutic intervention. Despite the extensive application of this treatment, there have been no reports of dysphonia occurring after corticosteroid injection into the subacromial space. We report the case of a 66-yr-old man with dysphonia after undergoing subacromial glucocorticosteroid injection for treatment of rotator cuff tendinitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Therapeutic selective nerve root blocks (SNRBs) are a common intervention for patients with sciatica. Patients often are referred to physical therapy after SNRBs, although the effectiveness of this intervention sequence has not been investigated., Objective: This study was a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of SNRBs, with or without subsequent physical therapy, in people with low back pain and sciatica., Design: This investigation was a pilot randomized controlled clinical trial., Setting: The settings were spine specialty and physical therapy clinics., Participants: Forty-four participants (64% men; mean age=38.5 years, SD=11.6 years) with low back pain, with clinical and imaging findings consistent with lumbar disk herniation, and scheduled to receive SNRBs participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to receive either 4 weeks of physical therapy (SNRB+PT group) or no physical therapy (SNRB alone [SNRB group]) after the injections., Intervention: All participants received at least 1 SNRB; 28 participants (64%) received multiple injections. Participants in the SNRB+PT group attended an average of 6.0 physical therapy sessions over an average of 23.9 days., Measurements: Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 8 weeks, and 6 months with the Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire, a numeric pain rating scale, and the Global Rating of Change., Results: Significant reductions in pain and disability occurred over time in both groups, with no differences between groups at either follow-up for any outcome. Nine participants (5 in the SNRB group and 4 in the SNRB+PT group) underwent surgery during the follow-up period., Limitations: The limitations of this study were a relatively short-term follow-up period and a small sample size., Conclusions: A physical therapy intervention after SNRBs did not result in additional reductions in pain and disability or perceived improvements in participants with low back pain and sciatica.

Sacral stress fractures are a relatively common occurrence and can be a debilitating source of low back pain. They generally occur in two distinctly different patient populations, and are of two different etiologies. Sacral insufficiency-type fractures are seen in elderly osteoporotic persons, and fatigue fractures are seen young active individuals. Although the clinical presentation of these fractures is similar, medical rehabilitation and interventional spine management strategies differ according to etiology. Although conservative management strategies have resulted in good outcomes, other treatment options have recently developed. This article provides an overview of the clinical presentation, pathology, and treatment options for sacral stress fractures and discusses some of the recent literature surrounding this interesting topic.