RAPID RESPONSES FROM BMJ.COM: Corticosteroid injections work!

doi:10.1136/bmjusa.01100004

BMJ 2003;327:E72 (4 October), doi:10.1136/bmjusa.01100004 (published 13 September 2002)

BMJ USA: Letter

RAPID RESPONSES FROM BMJ.COM

Corticosteroid injections work!

This article originally appeared in BMJ USA

Editor—Once again I read an article about a treatmentI use commonly, which gives an equivocal opinion about itseffectiveness. Despite the conclusion that there are insufficientdata on which to base a recommendation to give shoulder corticosteroidinjections, I continue to find them invaluable. It is easyfor researchers to take away what many GPs find as effectivetreatment and leave us to pick up the pieces—shoulderpains that do not respond to physiotherapy, persons with contraindicationsto nonsteroidal therapy, and working patients who do not havetime for physiotherapy. How are we to deal with these patientsknowing that we have helped hundreds of others in the past witha treatment that has "no good evidence"?

Graeme Mackenzie, general practitioner

Maryport, Cumbria, UK graeme.mackenzie{at}GP-A82032.nhs.uk

Sepsis after injections

Editor—The statement that sepsis is reported in up to1 in 17 joint or soft tissue injections is presumably a misprint.The usual figure is 1 in 17 000.¹

Steve Longworth, GP Principal

The East Leicester Medical Practice, Leicester, UK Longworth_S{at}gp-C82063.nhs.uk