Normal saline injection; a promising method to treat steroid-induced atrophy

Subcutaneous fat atrophy at the site of multiple injections can follow intradermal or intramuscular administration of steroids to treat inflammatory diseases. This condition takes several months to develop, and usually patients seek medical attention due to cosmetic deformities. Several methods, including fat transfer, filler injection and normal saline injection haven been proposed to treat steroid-induced atrophy. However, no standard procedure has been established for normal saline injection in terms of quantity and time interval between sessions. Normal injectable saline was administered every other week for 3 months, followed by 3 months’ rest. During follow-up, the response was satisfactory. As far as the authors are aware, this is the first demonstration of this method’s applicability to cases of steroid-induced atrophy in pediatric settings.