Steroid shots during knee replacement: which route works best?
NCT ID NCT04432012
First seen Sep 11, 2026 · Last updated Sep 11, 2026
Summary
Researchers are testing whether giving the steroid dexamethasone during total knee replacement helps with pain, nausea, and recovery, and whether it matters if the drug goes into a vein or is injected around the knee joint. The trial enrolls 159 adults with knee osteoarthritis having their first knee replacement at one hospital. Participants are randomly assigned to receive intravenous dexamethasone, periarticular dexamethasone, or standard care without steroids, and researchers track pain scores, knee function, nausea, hospital stay length, and complications.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- dexamethasone, a steroid given either into a vein or injected around the knee joint
- What this could lead to
- If one method works better, it could give surgeons a clearer way to reduce pain and nausea after knee replacement, possibly helping patients recover with less discomfort.
- What could go wrong
- This is a single-center study of 159 people, so results may not apply everywhere. Steroids can raise blood sugar and slightly increase infection risk, and the differences between the three approaches may turn out to be small.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 4
Runs after approval, following long-term safety and how well the treatment works in everyday use.
- Participants
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About 159 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2020
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2033
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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50 to 85 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients undergoing unilateral primary TKA at the Ospedale Regionale di Lugano. * Patients with a BMI \>18.5 and \<35. * Patients able to provide informed consent and follow all the study procedures as indicated by the protocol. * Informed Consent as documented by signature (Appendix Informed Consent Form). Exclusion Criteria: * Contraindications to steroids. * Revision TKA. * Active steroid therapy. * Women who are pregnant or breast feeding. * Presence of other clinically significant concomitant disease states (ASA IV). * Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus * Known or suspected non-compliance, drug or alcohol abuse. * Inability to follow the procedures of the study, e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia, etc. of the participant. * Participation in another study with investigational drug within the 30 days preceding and during the present study. * Previous enrolment into the current study. * Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Ospedale Regionale di Lugano Civico e Italiano
RECRUITINGLugano, 6900, Switzerland
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