This invention relates to the use of corticosteroids in patients with diabetes, including patients with type 2 diabetes, to treat pain, including pain caused by inflammatory diseases such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis without increasing or otherwise significantly impacting blood glucose concentrations in diabetic patients, and to slow, arrest or reverse structural damage to tissues caused by an inflammatory disease, for example damage to articular and/or periarticular tissues caused by osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis without increasing or otherwise impacting blood glucose concentrations. More specifically, a formulation of triamcinolone acetonide (TCA) is administered locally to diabetes patients, including type 2 diabetes patients, as a sustained release dosage form (with or without an immediate release component) that results in efficacy levels accompanied by clinically insignificant or no measurable effect on blood glucose levels.
