A study by Boston University School of Medicine has found that cortisone injections for hip and knee pain could accelerate disintegration of the joint. The research team found that 10 percent of patients who received a cortisone shot to the hip suffered from complications. About 4 percent of patients who received injections to the knee also had complications.
The complications included stress fractures, progressive osteoarthritis and even the collapse of joints. Furthermore, in some cases the joint disintegration have forced patients to have total joint replacement.
Cortisone injections are used as a way to quickly reduce inflammation in a joint and are used by athletes to mask the pain in order to continue competing.
Dr. Ali Guermazi, study leader of Boston University School of Medicine, said: “We’ve been telling patients that even if these injections don’t relieve your pain, they’re not going to hurt you. But now we suspect that this is not necessarily the case.
“We are now seeing these injections can be very harmful to the joints with serious complications.”
The study’s findings appear online in the journal Radiology.
