The New England journal of medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Physical Therapy versus Glucocorticoid Injection for Osteoarthritis of the Knee.
Both physical therapy and intraarticular injections of glucocorticoids have been shown to confer clinical benefit with respect to osteoarthritis of the knee. Whether the short-term and long-term effectiveness for relieving pain and improving physical function differ between these two therapies is uncertain. ⋯ Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who underwent physical therapy had less pain and functional disability at 1 year than patients who received an intraarticular glucocorticoid injection. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01427153.).