Corticosteroids were first used in patients with RA, dramatically improving their symptoms. They are used as first-line therapy to this day for a variety of inflammatory conditions.
- They can be used systemically (PO, IV) or locally (topical, intra-articular, epidural), and are available at different potencies.
- In case of athritis in one or two joints, an intra-articular injection is a good choice of treatment to reduce the side-effects; in polyarthropathy, however, systemic administration is required.
Indications
Corticosteroids are indicated for usage in hundreds of conditions: