Dr. Joshua John-Ram SchacterDr. Joshua Schacter, DO FAAOS, is America’s Holistic Orthopedic Surgeon, with nearly two decades of surgical expertise.

The Risks of Steroid Injections Before Joint Replacement

22 May 2023 · 1 min

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Short video statement by Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter warning that steroid injections carry significant risks—notably increased postoperative complications and infections when joint replacement is performed within three months of injection—as well as systemic and local soft-tissue complications (metabolic disorders, tendon/ligament ruptures). The speaker advocates for avoiding steroid injections in favor of safer alternatives.

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Steroid injections have significant risks. They increase your risk of complication after joint replacement so much that we know that if we do a knee replacement within three months of a steroid injection, it significantly increases your risk of complication. It can also have massive systemic complications with our diabetic patients and can cause all kinds of local and systemic soft tissue complications. Most important to remember is the infection and joint damage. But other complications can be metabolic disorders, ruptures of ligaments or tendons, and other problems. And so this is a medication that can be very effective. But in the face of effective, useful and safer alternatives, we here at Pinnacle really believe that steroid injections should be a thing of the past.