Changes in Blood Glucose Level After Steroid Injection for Musculoskeletal Pain in Patients With Diabetes

OBJECTIVE: To investigate changes in blood glucose level after steroid injection in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and factors affecting those changes. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 51 patients with type 2 DM who underwent steroid injection for shoulder and back pain. Mean fasting blood sugar (FBS) levels for 7 days before steroid injection was used as the baseline blood glucose level, which was compared with FBS levels for 14 days after steroid injection. We compared the differences in blood glucose changes between HbA1c >7% and HbA1c ≤7% groups and those between insulin and non-insulin treated groups. Demographic data, injection site, and steroid dose were analyzed. RESULTS: Compared to baseline, blood glucose significantly (p=0.012) elevated 1 day after steroid injection but not 2 days after injection. In the HbA1c >7% and insulin groups, blood glucose was significantly increased 1 day after injection compared to that in the HbA1c ≤7% (p=0.011) and non-insulin (p=0.024) groups, respectively. Higher HbA1c level before injection was significantly (p=0.003) associated with the degree of blood glucose increase 1 day after injection. No significant differences were noted in the degree of blood glucose increase according to injection site or steroid dose. CONCLUSION: Higher HbA1c level was associated with greater elevation in blood glucose 1 day after steroid injection. Careful monitoring of blood glucose is required on the first day after steroid injection in patients with poorly controlled DM.