Can pre-operative intraarticular injection predict pain relief after total hip arthroplasty?

Background To study if pain relief after injection and arthroplasty correlate. Methods A retrospective cohort study included consecutive patients ( n = 88; median age 64 (interquartile range (IQR) 22) years, 49 (56%) females) that received fluoroscopic-guided intra-articular hip injection with contrast agent, anaesthetic (diagnostic), and corticosteroid (therapeutic) before implantation of primary total hip arthroplasty. Pain scores were assessed pre-injection, post-injection after 15 min (diagnostic phase) at first clinical follow up (therapeutic phase; median 2 (IQR 2) months), and postoperatively (last follow up (median 15 (IQR 5) months)). Responders had reduction in pain score ≥ 20 (numeric rating scale 0–100) points. The primary outcome was the same (or inverse) response to injection and arthroplasty. Results The median pain scores were higher pre-injection (68 (IQR 30) points) compared to the diagnostic phase (18 (IQR 40) points; p < 0.001), therapeutic phase (50 (IQR 40) points; p < 0.001), and post-operatively (2 (IQR 15) points; p < 0.001). On the one hand, 69 (78%) cases had the same response in the diagnostic phase and post-operatively (rho = 0.58; p < 0.001; sensitivity 83%); on the other hand 32 (36%) cases had the same response in the therapeutic phase and post-operatively (rho = 0.25; p < 0.001; sensitivity 33%). Furthermore, 57% and 91% of patients had an even better response post-operatively than in the diagnostic and therapeutic phases. Conclusions Pre-operative intraarticular injection can predict pain relief after primary total hip arthroplasty. A positive response to hip arthroplasty may be better predicted by the response to local anaesthetic (diagnostic phase) than corticosteroids. Most patients (91%) with osteoarthritis may expect better pain relief after arthroplasty compared to the therapeutic phase after injection.