Studies in osteo-arthritis using intra-articular temperature response to injection of hydrocortisone acetate and prednisone.

The use of intra-articular hydrocortisone acetate in the treatment of osteo-arthritis has been shown to produce a temporary improvement of symptoms in many cases (Hollander, Stoner, Brown, and De Moor, 1951), although enthusiasm for this method has been tempered by warnings of the possibility of increasing the damage in joints subjected to excessive use in the periods of freedom from symptoms (Young, Ward, and Henderson, 1954). The results of treatment of the knee have been more encouraging than those of treatment of other joints, presumably because of the ease with which injection of the knee joint can be accomplished. The present study has been undertaken in a series of patients with osteo-arthritis, to determine what changes occur in the intra-articular temperature, before and after the injection of hydrocortisone acetate or prednisone into the knee joint. An endeavour was also made to correlate these temperature changes with the relief of symptoms in the affected joint.