Systemic Oral Glucocorticoids for the Treatment of Acute Osteoarthritis Pain in the Emergency Department
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Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The purpose of this clinical trial is to compare the analgesic effects (relief of pain) of glucocorticoids (steroids) and pain medication versus pain medication alone in adult patients presenting to the emergency department with joint pain due to osteoarthritis. Steroids are drugs that can reduce inflammation and are used commonly for many different medical conditions. In brief, the central aims of the study are to: 1. Assess the efficacy of adding oral glucocorticoid medications to the standard pain medications used to treat the pain of osteoarthritis. 2. Assess the safety and tolerability of oral glucocorticoid medication for the short-term treatment of osteoarthritis pain. We hypothesize that: 1) The addition of glucocorticoids to standard pain medications will improve reported pain scores at 3 days following the initiation of treatment compared to standard pain medications alone and 2) The use of glucocorticoids will be well tolerated. Participants in the study will be randomized (like flipping a coin) into one of three groups: 1. Study Group 1 (Control) receiving placebo pills (no active ingredient) once a day for 5 days, plus ibuprofen (pain medication) for 5 days. 2. Study Group 2 (Intervention A) who will receive prednisone (steroid) once a day for 5 days, plus ibuprofen (pain medication) for 5 days. 3. Study Group 3 (Intervention B) who will receive one dose of dexamethasone (steroid) followed by placebo pills (no active ingredient) once a day for 4 days, plus ibuprofen (pain medication) for 5 days. In all groups, acetaminophen (a different pain medication) can be taken as needed for pain that is not controlled with ibuprofen. Participants will: * Receive follow up phone calls at 1, 3, 7 and 14 days. * Report pain scores related to joint pain. * Report the number of pills taken of the various medications used in the study. * Report any adverse events incurred during the follow up period.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT06603662
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 4
- Enrollment
- 192 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Feb 24, 2025 (Actual)
- Primary completion
- Oct 2027 (Estimated)
- Completion
- Dec 2027 (Estimated)
- Last update posted
- Aug 19, 2026
2025 – 2027
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WellSpan York Hospital | York | Pennsylvania | 17403 | Recruiting |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT06603662, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Aug 19, 2026 · Synced Nov 15, 2026
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