Prednisone 10 mg when used orally for 2 weeks following total knee arthroplasty (total knee arthroplasty), effectively mitigates subacute pain (along with pain with ambulation (PWA) and pain at rest (PAR)) and decreases analgesic use after the surgery, as revealed from the study in ‘Orthopaedics & traumatology, surgery & research’ journal.

The study authors hypothesized that prednisone oral could lessen post-TKA subacute pain.

Forty-nine patients were registered in prednisone group (prednisone 10 mg oral, once daily, from the first day of surgery for 2 weeks) and control group, respectively in this prospective, randomized controlled trial. During arthroplasty, a mixture of injections was administered and; after the surgery, oral celecoxib and tramadol were used. VAS scores helped assess PWA and PAR with a follow-up of about 3 months.

As found, VAS of PWA was lower in prednisone group on the 7th, 14th and 28th day following TKA as compared to control group. In case of PAR, VAS was lower in prednisone group on the postoperative 14th and 28th day than control group.