Injection into the hip is an established technique as part of the conservative management of femoroacetabular impingement. Traditionally, the decision to proceed to hip arthroscopy is influenced to a large degree by the patient's response to the injection. A new study, however, has shown that the outcome of hip arthroscopy is not always related to the outcome of that injection.
A new study set out to determine the difference in outcome after hip arthroscopy between patients who responded, and those who did not respond, to a steroid injection into the hip.
This was a retrospective study of patients who underwent primary hip arthroscopy between 2012 and 2014. The patients were divided into two groups, the first made up of those who responded positively to the injection, and the second of those who ultimately did not respond. The usual hip outcome scores were used to assess the results. A total of 116 patients from each group were included, and the results were analysed using statistical methods. There were no differences in the demographic or other general characteristics of the two groups. Both groups were found to have similar outcomes after hip arthroscopy over a period of 10 years.
The authors concluded that the response to a steroid injection into the hip was not associated with any difference in ten-year outcomes after hip arthroscopy, or in the rate of revision surgery. It therefore appears that, while intra-articular injection into the hip remains an important tool in the assessment of femoroacetabular impingement, the absence of a positive response to it does not rule out a good outcome after hip arthroscopy.
Source: “Arthroscopy”, December 2025