Shakil Baig, Syed Mujahid Humail, Soofia Bano, Amir Riaz.
Efficacy of intra-articular injections of corticosteroid in chornic painful knee joints.
J Pak Orthop Assoc Jan ;20(1):60-4.

Objective: To study the effect of intra-articular injection of corticosteroid on chronic knee pain. Study Design: An open labeled prospective case series. Place and Duration of Study: Rheumatology Unit of Baqai Medical University, Karachi. Patients and Methods: Consecutive patients presenting in the rheumatology outpatient department of Baqai Rheumatology Unit, of Baqai Medical University, with knee pain of 3 months duration, or more were studied. There were 39 knee joints in 31 patients, with 8 patients had both their knees studied. Twenty four patients were females and 7 were males. Baseline pain score on a 0-10 cm continuous scale (VAS) was recorded. Subsequent observations were made at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 12 weeks. PGA and DGA were also recorded on each visit. Results: The average VAS at baseline was 6.64, at 2 weeks 4.10, at 6 weeks 2.18 and at 12 weeks it was 1.15. The percentage reduction in VAS was 38.25, 67.16 and 79.21 respectively from baseline. A minimum improvement of at least 2 cm in VAS was observed in 33 (84.61%), 35 (89.74%) and 37 (94.87%) joints respectively on serial observations. A PGA record of ‘better’ was noted in 81.57%, 84.21% and 81.57% on the three observations respectively. Similarly, DGA was ‘better’ in 86.84%, 92.10% and 92.10%. Conclusion: Intra-articular corticosteroid injection is an effective mode of treatment for chronic knee pain and can cause pain reduction in majority of patients, which may last for upto three months.

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