Pre And Post Treatment Comparative Study of Meniscus Tears Treated with Intraarticular Steroid Injection

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of long-term intraarticular (IA) steroid injections for knee pain related to meniscus tear. Methods: In this study 50 patients with meniscus tear of the knee received IA injections of triamcinolone acetonide 40 mg (50 patients) into the knee every 3 months for up to 2 years. The clinical efficacy measure of primary interest was the pain subscale from the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC). Efficacy measures of secondary interest were the total score on the WOMAC, physician's global assessment, patient's global assessment, patient's assessment of pain, range of motion (ROM) of the affected knee, and 50-foot walking time. Clinical symptoms were assessed just before each injection. Results: The steroid-injected knees showed a trend toward greater symptom improvement, especially at 1 year, for the WOMAC pain subscale, night pain, and ROM values (P <0.001). Using area under the curve analyses, knee pain and stiffness were significantly improved throughout the 2-year study by repeated injections of triamcinolone acetonide in type1, type2 and degenerative meniscus tear. Conclusion: This study support long-term safety of IA steroid injections for patients with symptomatic knee with meniscus tear without any deleterious effects. It is also clinically effective to relive symptoms.

Keywords

• Intra-articular steroid injection
• Meniscus tears