Experience of using a systemic glucocorticosteroid as an initial therapy for post-COVID-19 arthritis in outpatient practice
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of patients with joint lesions resistant to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was encountered in our clinical practice. The article summarizes the positive experience of outpatient therapy of 916 patients (mean age 47.1±11.3 years), including 774 women, with arthritis of various localization, which occurred on average 45.0±7.1 days after a previously transmitted infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. 709 (77.4%) patients used NSAIDs before going to the clinic, the effect of which was absent or insufficient. In this regard, intramuscular injections of betamethasone prescribed to 823 patients were used as the initial therapy (considering the comorbid background and allergy history). During the drug intake, most of the patients had relief of inflammation, pain reduction, improvement of the disease segment function already on the 7th day. In 69.3% of cases, a single-dose administration was sufficient. The obtained results allow drawing preliminary conclusions about the feasibility of using this technique in the complex treatment of reactive arthritis after the SARS-CoV-2 infection.