Intra-Articular Steroid Injection for Pain Relief in Osteoarthritis of the Hip

Abstract

This study was done to assess the benefits of intra articular steroids as an adjunct in managing the pain from hip arthritis in patients awaiting hip replacement and those who cannot undergo surgery due to concurrent medical conditions or other factors.

We injected 26 radiologically confirmed osteoarthritic hips. Results were evaluated pre and post-injection using the Harris Hip Score. We found that all patients had significant improvement in pain relief, ability to walk and sit comfortably in a chair. However there was no improvement in their ability to climb stairs. Overall this procedure improved their quality of life and reduced the analgesic requirement.

Key Words:

• steroid injection
• hip
• osteoarthritis