Treatment of finger joints with local steroids. A double-blind study.

The study was performed in 24 patients all having rheumatoid arthritis affecting the finger joints. Randomly, and in a double-blind fashion, the inflamed interphalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints of one hand were injected with either triamcinolone hexacetoide (TH) or methylprednisolone (MP) and those of the other hand vice versa. A total of 120 affected swollen finger joints were injected--59 joints with TH and 61 with MP. The duration of effect and the possible side effects were followed up for a period of 6 months. All injections produced clinically significant effects. There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups at the start of the treatment, but after 6 months the results in the TH group were significantly better. However, there were also more joints with skin and soft tissue atrophy in this group than in the MP group.