Promising Results from a Phase 3 Study SAN DIEGO—An investigational liposomal formulation of dexamethasone sodium phosphate (TLC599) for intra-articular injection is being studied to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). George Spencer-Green, MD, MS, chief medical officer of Taiwan Liposome Company (TLC), Cambridge, Mass., presented recent data on this agent in a late-breaking abstract session…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A single injection into the hip of steroid and local anesthetic improved pain and function in patients with hip osteoarthritis in a randomized controlled trial, with most of the benefit seen early after treatment. Researchers at two community-based clinics in England assigned 199 volunteers to receive either an ultrasound guided intra-articular hip…
For patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA), pain management and maintaining function are primary therapy goals. Current guidelines offer recommendations on nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic approaches to addressing these issues in hip OA. For patients in whom pharmacologic management is considered, the use of intra-articular steroid injections is one option. In its 2012 guidelines (the most current…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Use of epidural steroid injections (ESIs) “should be approached with prudence,” particularly in patients who are at risk for osteoporotic fractures, such as women of postmenopausal age, according to authors of a systematic review. Although the literature presents a mixed picture, ESIs in doses as low as 80 mg methylprednisolone equivalents seem…
A two-year study among patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) showed that steroid injections for knee pain were no more effective than saline injections and actually reduced cartilage volume more than placebo. The study, conducted at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, looked at progression of cartilage loss and change in knee pain after treatment with placebo…
In a recent study of unilateral lateral epicondylalgia, corticosteroid injection resulted in worse clinical outcomes compared to placebo injection, and there were no significant differences in those who received physical therapy or no physical therapy.
Steroid use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been linked to higher mortality rates, greater rate of infections, more cases of pneumonia, and serious gastrointestinal events
To improve access to quality of care for patients with osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal pain, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched a continuing education program designed to strengthen the musculoskeletal knowledge and skills of primary care providers (PCPs). In the program’s initial trial in 2012, 19 physicians were trained on exams, treatments and joint injections. Two years after course completion, some participants increased the number of intraarticular corticosteroid injections at their clinics without needing to refer patients to specialists…
Legislative news on biosimilars, safety warning on epidural corticosteroid injections, and other drug updates rheumatologists need to know
Test your coding knowledge for an office visit for a 51-year-old female patient with osteoarthritis in her right knee who returns for a follow-up with the physician assistant six weeks after she received an intraarticular corticosteroid injection in her knee