Currently there is no evidence to support the routine use of corticosteroids alone in the management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic disorder of unknown cause that is progressive and leads to death. Existing evidence about the treatment of IPF is difficult to interpret because of evolving diagnostic criteria and classification schemes, grouping together diverse entities with markedly different natural histories and responses to therapy. Therefore, because the old studies did not include only IPF patients, their results cannot be extended to IPF as they are currently defined. In addition, methodologic problems mainly related to the lack of randomized placebo-controlled treatment trials have made evidence-based conclusions difficult. A systematic search for high quality placebo-controlled randomised trials comparing corticosteroid treatment with placebo in subjects with a diagnosis of IPF was unable to identify any studies suitable for inclusion in the review.