TOPLINE:
Intra-articular corticosteroid (IACS) injections pose a minimal risk of accelerating diabetes for most people, despite temporarily elevating blood glucose levels, according to a study published in Clinical Diabetes.
METHODOLOGY:
- Almost half of Americans with diabetes have arthritis, so glycemic control is a concern for many receiving IACS injections.
- IACS injections are known to cause short-term hyperglycemia, but their long-term effects on glycemic control are not well studied.
- For the retrospective cohort study, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, used electronic health records from 1169 adults who had received an IACS injection in one large joint between 2012 and 2018.
- They analyzed data on A1C levels for study participants from 18 months before and after the injections.
- Researchers assessed if participants had a greater-than-expected (defined as an increase of more than 0.5% above expected) concentration of A1C after the injection, and examined rates of diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic syndrome in the 30 days following an injection.
TAKEAWAY:
- Nearly 16% of people experienced a greater-than-expected A1C level after receiving an injection.
- A1C levels rose by an average of 1.2% in the greater-than-expected group, but decreased by an average of 0.2% in the average group.
- One patient had an episode of severe hyperglycemia that was linked to the injection.
- A baseline level of A1C above 8% was the only factor associated with a greater-than-expected increase in the marker after an IACS injection.
IN PRACTICE:
“Although most patients do not experience an increase in A1C after IACS, clinicians should counsel patients with suboptimally controlled diabetes about risks of further hyperglycemia after IACS administration,” the researchers wrote.
SOURCE:
The study was led by Terin T. Sytsma, MD, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
LIMITATIONS:
The study was retrospective and could not establish causation. In addition, the population was of residents from one county in Minnesota, and was not racially or ethnically diverse. Details about the injection, such as location and total dose, were not available. The study also did not include a control group.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by Mayo Clinic and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. The authors reported no relevant disclosures.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.