2023 AAHKS Annual Meeting: Effect of IV Hydrocortisone on Physical Therapy Milestones and Pain after TKA: A Randomized Trial

65 patients scheduled for a total knee arthroplasty were randomized to receive intravenous hydrocortisone (n=35) or placebo (n=30). The outcomes of interest included physical therapy milestones and pain scores measured with a Numeric Likert scale and the painDETECT scale. The results showed significantly higher rates of achievement on the sit-stand physical therapy milestone in the hydrocortisone group (p=0.01). Moreover, pain scores at rest in the first post-operative day and painDETECT scores at 6 months were significantly in favour of the hydrocortisone group.