Comparison of Efficacy Between Intra-Articular Tramadol versus Intraticular Corticosteriod Injection in Knee Osteoathritis

Objective: To compare the efficacy between intra-articular Tramadol versus intra-articular corticosteroid injection in knee osteoarthritis. Study Design: Quasi Experimental Study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Combined Military Hospital, Abbottabad Pakistan from Mar to Sept 2022. Methodology: The study included 92 individuals who were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis by a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and who presented with joint discomfort (WOMAC Score > 35mm). Two groups of forty-six patients each were formed through lottery method. The first group of patients received injections of intra-articular corticosteroids, whereas the second group received injections of intra-articular Tramadol. At the 4, 8, and 12 week follow-up appointments, patients were evaluated again. Pain, stiffness, and physical function were evaluated using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) version 3.1. The pain scale ranged from 0 (no pain) to 100 (worst possible pain), and the effectiveness was determined by the amount of alleviation observed. A 70% decrease in symptoms from baseline was considered an efficacy label. Results: In terms of alleviating symptoms of Knee Osteoarthritis, intra-articular corticosteroid injection was found to be considerably better than intra-articular Tramadol injection, in 40 cases (87.0%) compared to 22 cases (47.8%), with a p-value of less than 0.001. Conclusion: Injections of intra-articular corticosteroids were far more effective than injections of intra-articular Tramadol in alleviating symptoms and improving WOMAC scores in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis, according to this research.