Intra-articular Diagnostic Injection Exhibits Poor Predictive Value for Outcome After Hip Arthroscopy

摘要

Purpose: To determine whether the amount of pain relief after preoperative intra-articular (IA) anesthetic injection predicts clinical and functional outcomes after hip arthroscopy, especially when controlling for the presence of chondral degeneration. Methods: We identified patients who underwent IA injection and subsequent hip arthroscopy for labral pathology between 2007 and 2013 performed by a single surgeon. Inclusion criteria were ultrasound- or fluoroscopic-guided IA anesthetic injection performed at our institution, prospectively documented pre- and postinjection numerical rating scale pain scores, and minimum 1-year follow-up postoperatively. Patients were divided into 2 groups, those who received >50% pain relief from preoperative IA anesthetic injection and those who received 50% pain relief, and the median time interval from injection to surgery was 3 (range, 50% pain relief. Multivariate regression analysis showed no significant predictors of outcome, including age, gender, Tonnis grade, percent relief with IA injection, or type of surgery. Conclusions: In this study of patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for labral pathology, our data indicate that the amount of pain relief from IA injection may be a poor predictor of short-term outcome, even when adjusting for chondral degeneration. Although anesthetic injections can be an important diagnostic tool in select patients, a combination of the clinical history, physical examination, and imaging findings is fundamental.