Osteonecrosis: The perils of steroids. A review of the literature and case report

Abstract

Non-traumatic osteonecrosis is a cause of joint pain and deformity, not uncommonly caused by corticosteroid use. Despite this, corticosteroid induced osteonecrosis is poorly represented in the literature. We performed a detailed review of corticosteroid induced osteonecrosis, including aetiology, prevention, screening, clinical presentation, investigations, staging systems and treatment. We present this in the context of a patient at our institution who developed bilateral hip, shoulder and knee osteonecrosis following high dose corticosteroid therapy for dermatomyositis.

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Brooker, B. and Keith, P. (2012) Osteonecrosis: The perils of steroids. A review of the literature and case report. Case Reports in Clinical Medicine, 1, 26-37. doi: 10.4236/crcm.2012.12008.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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