Effect of Intramuscular vs Intra-articular Glucocorticoid Injection on Pain Among Adults With Knee Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the causes of disability.
The knee is the most commonly affected joint when it comes to OA.
Some of the treatment strategies include disease education, exercise therapy, and weight loss.
Usually, OA is being treated with pain medications that are usually indicated for patients with knee OA.
Among the pain medications being used to treat OA include intra-articular (IA) glucocorticoid injection. This is one of the most widely used medications to treat this disease.
Clinical trials have shown the short-term effectiveness of IA glucocorticoid injection. This medication is known in reducing moderate to severe knee pain.
Several guidelines recommend use of said injection for patients with knee OA who have not responded to oral or topical analgesics.
However, the safety of injecting a glucocorticoid into the knee is increasingly drawing concerns among physicians.
A 2-year randomized clinical trial showed IA injection of glucocorticoids would result in significantly greater cartilage loss.
In addition, although rare, IA injection is linked with risks of septic arthritis and postoperative joint infection.
We will continue with our discussion about this in our next issue.