Extract
Question: In patients with inflammatory arthritis, what is the
relative effectiveness of arthroscopic lavage plus corticosteroids,
arthroscopic lavage alone, and joint aspiration plus corticosteroids?Design: Randomized (allocation concealed), partially blinded
(outcome assessors), placebo-controlled trial with 9-month follow-up.Setting: A university medical center in The Netherlands.Patients: 78 patients who were =18 years of age (mean age 54 y,
55% women) and had arthritis of the knee not due to gout, osteoarthritis, or
infection. Exclusion criteria were hemorrhagic disease, oral prednisone >10
mg/day, recent (<6 weeks) change of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs,
recent joint infection, or hypersensitivity to methylprednisolone or local
anesthetics. Follow-up was 96%.