SynthesisMusculoskeletal care2025
The Effect of Corticosteroid Doses on Pain in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Musculoskeletal care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the effect of various doses of intra articular corticosteroid injection (IACI) on pain reduction in knee osteoarthritis when compared with normal saline and perform a between-dose comparison.
methodsA systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted searching four databases until April 2024. RCTs comparing the effect of IACI with normal saline on pain relief in knee osteoarthritis were included. The different doses were pooled into three categories: low (< 40 mg methylprednisolone equivalent), usual (40 mg), or high dose (> 40 mg). Their effect compared to normal saline was evaluated at very short (VST, 1-3 weeks), short (ST, 4-8 weeks) and middle term (MT, 10-16 weeks). A multivariate analysis carried out the influence of dosage on pain relief, at each time point. The Jadad scale was used to assess risks of bias and GRADE for certainty of evidence.
resultsEleven studies were included in the meta-analyses (n = 1125 patients). Low dose was significantly superior to normal saline in the VST, but not in the ST (low-quality evidence). No data were available for the MT. The usual dose was significantly superior to normal saline in the ST, but not in the VST and MT (moderate-quality evidence). A high dose was significantly superior to normal saline in the ST and MT (low-quality evidence). Multivariate analysis showed that the dose significantly influenced pain reduction at ST and MT, but not in the VST (low-quality evidence).
conclusionThe dose of IACI doesn't influence pain reduction in the peak effect, but a higher dose seems to have a more prolonged effect.
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