Acute adrenal crisis in a patient treated with intraarticular steroid therapy.

Intraarticular therapy with corticosteroids can cause systemic effects such as decreased concentration of plasma cortisol, but whether this might place a patient at risk from stress induced acute adrenal failure is not known. We describe a patient who presented with lethargy, hyponatremia, and then with acute abdomen. The diagnosis of acute adrenal crisis was related to suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by intraarticular use of corticosteroid. This was confirmed by a low basal cortisol concentration and by a short Synacthen test that elicited an increase in plasma cortisol concentration from 36 to 481 nmol/l. Within 24 h of receiving 37.5 mg of hydrocortisone, the patient rapidly improved.