[Prospective study of JCR-Oligo I of the Child and Adolescence Rheumatology Working Group]

Abstract

Intra-articular injection of corticosteroids is a powerful anti-inflammatory treatment with relatively few side effects. To date no prospective RCT exists on its use in children with oligoarthritis type I. Thus, in January 2000 the Arbeitsgemeinschaft started a multicenter RCT to compare in children with this diagnosis the initial treatment recommended in the textbooks, which is NSAID plus physiotherapy, with the early use of intra-articular injection of Triamcinolonhexacetonide. In the synovial fluid the presence of cytokines and the specific reactivity of T cells will be explored, and a highly sensitive screening for infectious agents will be performed.