Should Steroids Be Used To Treat Sore Throats?
RCentor has an interesting article on Sore Throats and Pharyngitis over at MedRants. He writes:
There is a new trend in pharyngitis that has taken hold amongst emergency physicians – the use of steroids to provide symptom relief.
I too have noticed this, and I completely agree with Dr Centor that while this is a highly effective treatment, it needs to be used with some caution. For our practice, this has been pushed by the ENTs. It has been our experience that when we see someone with a really bad sore throat or even with a peritonsillar abscess, 100% of the time the instruction from the ENTs has been to administer steroids. While the data is underwhelming (pain relief on average six hours quicker with steroids), the truth is that for a really bad case of tonsillitis, steroids work. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
