Treatment of finger joints with local steroids. A double-blind study.

The study was performed in 24 patients all having rheumatoid arthritis affecting the finger joints. Randomly, and in a double-blind fashion, the inflamed interphalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints of one hand were injected with either triamcinolone hexacetoide (TH) or methylprednisolone (MP) and those of the other hand vice versa. A total of 120 affected swollen finger joints were injected--59 joints with TH and 61 with MP. The duration of effect and the possible side effects were followed up for a period of 6 months. All injections produced clinically significant effects. There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups at the start of the treatment, but after 6 months the results in the TH group were significantly better. However, there were also more joints with skin and soft tissue atrophy in this group than in the MP group.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes