A fluoroscopic-guided intraarticular corticosteroid injection improved pain in osteoarthritis of the hip.

M e t h o d s Design: Randomized placebo-controlled trial. Allocation: {Concealed}†.* Blinding: Blinded (clinicians, patients, {data collectors, outcome assessors, data analysts, data safety and monitoring committee, and manuscript writers}†).* Follow-up period: 2 months. Setting: Alberta, Canada. Patients: 52 patients > 40 years of age (mean age 62 y, 60% women) with symptomatic hip OA for > 6 months before the trial, persistent pain despite taking maximum tolerated doses of conventional drugs, daily pain in the month before the trial, and stable doses of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for 2 weeks before the trial. Exclusion criteria were secondary causes of OA, diabetes, systemic arthritis, local or systemic infection precluding injection, allergy to contrast material or anesthetic agents, coagulopathy, anticoagulant therapy, previous IAC injection in the index hip, and avascular necrosis of bone. Intervention: Fluoroscopic-guided IAC injection of either bipuvicaine, 10 mg, and triamcinolone hexacetonide, 40 mg (IAC) (n = 31), or bipuvicaine, 10 mg, and saline, 2 mL (placebo) (n = 21). Outcomes: 20% improvement in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC) pain score (five 100-mm visual analog scales [VASs]; 0 = no pain, 100 = worst pain). Secondary outcomes included 50% improvement in WOMAC pain score, WOMAC stiffness and physical function scores, patient global assessment of health (100-mm VAS, higher score indicates more severe disease), and SF-36 quality of life. Patient follow-up: 94% (intention-to-treat analysis).