Corticosteroid Injection

Corticosteroid Injection

It is important you fully understand this information so please read the information carefully.

The Procedure

After the skin surface is thoroughly cleaned, the area is entered with a needle attached to a syringe. At this point medications can be injected into the area. This may be a joint space, trigger point or soft tissue target.

Corticosteroids are frequently used for these procedures as they are anti-inflammatory agents that slow down the accumulation of cells responsible for producing inflammation within the area.

Commonly injected joints include the knee, shoulder, and small joints of the hand and feet. It is also used to decrease inflammation in other areas such as around tendons and other soft tissue areas.

Benefits

You might receive the benefit of relief from pain and swelling with this procedure but this cannot be guaranteed. Only you can decide if the benefits are worth the risk.

Risks

Before undergoing one of these procedures, understanding the associated risks is essential. No procedure is risk free. The following risks are well recognised, but there may also be risks not included in this list that are unforeseen by the doctors:

  • There may be allergic reactions to the medicines injected into joints, to tape or the chemicals used to clean the skin for instance.
  • There may be infection, although this is extremely rare. You may develop “post-injection flare” which is joint swelling and pain several hours after the corticosteroid injection. This only occurs in approximately one out of 50 patients and usually subsides within several days.
  • Joint damage may result from frequent corticosteroid injections. Generally, repeated, frequent and numerous injections into the same site should be discouraged.
  • De-pigmentation (a whitening of the skin) and/or local fat atrophy (thinning of the skin) at the injection site.
  • Rupture of a tendon located in the path of the injection if inadvertently injected.
  • Pain may be associated with this procedure and the healing process.