Inpharma 1431 - 3 Apr 2004

Intra-articular corticosteroidsbeneficial in osteoarthritis

Intra-articular corticosteroid injections improvesymptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee, and may havebeneficial effects extending beyond 16 weeks, sayresearchers from New Zealand.

They identified ten randomised controlled trials inwhich the efficacy of intra-articular corticosteroidinjections for osteoarthritis of the knee, of any duration,could be assessed. In six of these studies, data wereavailable on improvement of symptoms of osteoarthritisof the knee after intra-articular corticosteroid injections.Compared with placebo, active treatment wasassociated with a significant improvement for up to twoweeks after injections (pooled relative risk 1.66; 95% CI1.37, 2.01). For the statistically significant studies, thenumber needed to treat was between 1.3 and 3.5. Fortwo high-quality studies, the pooled relative risk forimprovements at 16–24 weeks after intra-articularcorticosteroid injections was 2.09 and the numberneeded to treat was 4.4.

The researchers comment that a dose equivalent to50mg of prednisone may be needed to show benefit at16–24 weeks. They also say that corticosteroid injectionin addition to lavage needs investigation, and add thatalthough repeat injections appear to be safe over twoyears, this needs confirmation with data from otherstudies.Arroll B, et al. Corticosteroid injections for osteoarthritis of the knee: meta-analysis. BMJ 328: 869-870, No. 7444, 10 Apr 2004 800973269

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Inpharma 3 Apr 2004 No. 14311173-8324/10/1431-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved