This page is intended as reference information for the general public in Great Britain.
What is Depo-Medrone and what is it used for?
Depo-Medrone contains methylprednisolone acetate. Methylprednisolone belongs to a group of medicines called corticosteroids or steroids. Corticosteroids are produced naturally in your body and are important for many body functions.
Boosting the human body with extra corticosteroid such as Depo-Medrone can help when injected into the body by a doctor or nurse, such as in or near a joint, to treat local symptoms caused by inflammatory or rheumatic conditions such as:
Bursitis: inflammation in the fluid containing spaces around the shoulder, knee and/or elbow joints. For this condition this medicine will be injected directly into one or more of these spaces.
Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: inflammation located in between the joints. For these conditions this medicine will be injected directly into one or more joint spaces.
Plantar fasciitis: inflammation of the tissues of the sole of the foot.
Skin problems: such as alopecia areata (patchy baldness), keloids (scar tissue), lichen planus or simplex (small, purplish raised patches of skin or spots), discoid lupus (round-shaped patches, often on the face) or granuloma annulare (circular warty growths).
Epicondylitis (tennis elbow) and tenosynovitis: For these conditions this medicine will be injected into the tendon sheath.
Alternatively this medicine may be injected into a muscle to help treat more general (systemic) problems affecting the whole body (e.g. symptoms caused by a hypersensitivity to a medicine), or allergic, inflammatory or rheumatic problems affecting the:
brain e.g. meningitis caused by tuberculosis
bowel and gut e.g. Crohn’s disease (inflammation of the gut) or ulcerative colitis (inflammation of the lower bowel)
joints e.g. rheumatoid arthritis
lungs e.g. asthma, tuberculosis or inflammation caused by breathing in (aspirating) vomit or stomach contents
skin e.g. Stevens-Johnson syndrome (an autoimmune disorder in which an immune system causes the skin to blister and peel) or systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).
Undesirable effects may be minimised by using the lowest effective dose for the minimum period. In certain medical conditions medicines like Depo-Medrone (steroids) should not be stopped abruptly.
The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription.
Reference information
If you would like to see the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) or Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) for Depo-Medrone these can be found at the electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC).
Pfizer is unable to provide advice on personal medical matters. Please consult your doctor or other relevant health professional for specific, health-related advice and support.
If you get any side effects when taking this or any other medicine, talk to your doctor or other relevant health professional e.g. pharmacist, nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in the packaging leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk or search the Google Play or Apple App Store for MHRA Yellow Card. By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.