Methylprednisolone taper may reduce pain, opioid consumption after TSA
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- A methylprednisolone taper course after total shoulder arthroplasty may decrease pain up to 12 weeks postoperatively.
- It may also significantly reduce narcotic consumption in the first 7 days postoperatively.
SAN FRANCISCO — Results presented here showed a methylprednisolone taper course after total shoulder arthroplasty may reduce patient pain and opioid consumption without an increase in complications.
Zaamin B. Hussain, MD, MEd, and colleagues randomly assigned patients undergoing TSA to receive intraoperative dexamethasone either with (treatment group) or without (control group) a 6-day oral methylprednisolone taper course.
“Our primary outcome was VAS pain, and this was recorded three times a day for 7 days,” Hussain, a fourth-year resident at Emory University, said in his presentation at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting. “We also looked at narcotic consumption and our [patient-reported outcome measures] PROMs at 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 months.”
Hussain said approximately 50 patients were included in each group. At 1-year follow-up, one patient in the control group had an infection, according to Hussain.
In the first 7 days after the methylprednisolone taper, Hussain said patients in the treatment group had a marked decrease in pain, which had a consistent and significant reduction up to 12 weeks postoperatively.
“The narcotic consumption was also significantly reduced in the treatment group in the first 7 days, and the PROMs were similar between both groups at 12 weeks,” Hussain said.
Collapse
Hussain ZB, et al. Paper 503. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; Feb. 12-16, 2024; San Francisco.
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts