Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology

Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disease of the joints that causes pain as its main symptoms. National and international guidelines recommend intra-articular corticosteroid injections as a non-surgical therapy option when the other therapeutic options are not optimal. The aim of the study was to determine the effective frequency after intra-articular injection of Triamcinolone Acetonide in knee joint pain in patients with osteoarthritis grade 2 - 3 Kellgren Lawrence. The study is a quantitative descriptive in oupatients at the Orthopaedic Police of Brawijaya Surabaya Hospital, Indonesia. This research is a quasi-experimental research using purposive sampling methods. Subjects were injected with intra-articular Triamcinolone acetonide at a dose of 20mg/2ml at different times by the clinician based on the results of X-rays of the knee joint. After that, the pharmacist followed the progress of the subject's knee joint pain using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) during control at the Orthopedic Polyclinic (every 2 weeks). Based on data on the first recurrence of pain, subjects were divided into 4 categories, namely frequency after injection 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and more than 3 months. During 1 year of research, the total subjects were 34 patients which consisted of women (82.4%), late elderly (41.2%), overweight (38.2%), and work outside the home (58.8%). Demographic factors such as gender, age, BMI, and work status did not correlate with VAS (p>0.05). The correlation of intra-articular Triamcinolone acetonide frequency with VAS is insignificant (p = 0.460; r = -0.131). There was an increase in the number of subjects with moderate to severe VAS after intra-articular corticosteroids after 3 months injection. The conclusion is that the analgesic effect of intra-articular injection of Triamcinolone acetonide is short-term, less than 3 months. Osteoarthritis pain will reappear 3 months after injection with moderate to severe symptom.