Assessment of the Effectiveness of Corticosteroid Infiltrations in the Ignace Deen University Hospital Center in Conakry

Introduction Corticosteroid infiltration is a medical procedure which consists of the injection of a corticosteroid locally, into a painful site. Thus the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of corticosteroid infiltrations in the rheumatology department of the Ignace Deen University Hospital in Conakry (Guinea). Patients and method This was a prospective descriptive and analytical survey that lasted one year from July 2021 to July 2022 carried out in the rheumatology department of the Ignace Deen University Hospital in Conakry. We included all patients who had received corticosteroid infiltration. The infiltration was carried out by a rheumatologist either by anatomical or ultrasound-guided identification. Results During the study period, we recorded 1452 observations including 508 (35%) cases of corticosteroid infiltration. The average age was 53.7 years +/-12.7 years with the majority of our patients were young adults (68%). Females predominated (55%), with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.80. The infiltrations were mainly indicated for osteoarthritis, particularly knee osteoarthritis in 264 (52%) of cases and lumbarthrosis in 204 (40.2%) of cases, followed by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 216 (42.5%) of cases, gout in 183 (36%) of cases and lumbosciatica in 118 (23.2%) of cases. Dexamethasone was the corticosteroid predominantly used in 46.2% of cases. The associated medications were lidocaine in 93% of cases. The intensity of pain remained unchanged in 152 (30%) patients despite the infiltration sessions. Conclusion In our study, the majority of patients who benefited from cortisone infiltration were young adults, with females predominating. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis were the main indications for infiltration, and dexamethasone was the most commonly used corticosteroid. The study demonstrated the efficacy of cortisone infiltration, with improvement in pain intensity in some patients (70% of cases). For others, however, the pain remained unchanged.