The correlation between the outcomes of hip arthroscopy and preoperative intra-articular injections, the findings of magnetic resonance arthrography and patient demographics

The aim of this study was to determine whether the preoperative response to intra-articular injection of the hip correlates with the outcome of hip arthroscopy. A secondary aim was to determine whether the outcome of arthroscopy correlates with intra-articular pathological findings or with the patient’s demographic characteristics.
The study included 93 patients who underwent magnetic resonance arthrography (magnetic resonance imaging with intra-articular contrast – MRA), preoperative injections into the hip joint and subsequent hip arthroscopy. The images from the magnetic resonance arthrography and from the operation were reviewed retrospectively in order to identify information on the type of tear of the labrum, its size and the grade of the cartilage lesions. The correlation between the response to the intra-articular injection and the surgical outcome was assessed with the “Fischer exact test”. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to look for correlation with age, sex, body mass index, the interval between the injection and surgery, the type of labral tear and the grade of the cartilage lesions.
The authors found no positive or negative correlation between the responses to the preoperative intra-articular injections into the hip and the outcome of the operation one year after hip arthroscopy. Only body mass index appeared to correlate with the outcome of the operation.
Source: “American Journal of Roentgenology”, November 2016