Cortisone Shots Treat Severe Hip Pain
Reported December 23, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Ultrasound-guided cortisone injections may be an effective treatment for gluteus medius tendinopathy, a common condition caused by injury to the tendons in the buttocks which can cause severe hip pain.
“The underlying causes remain unclear but probably are multi-factorial and involve mechanical and degenerative processes,” Etienne Cardinal, MD, lead author of the study, was quoted as saying. Medical treatment usually includes physiotherapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication, and local injections of corticosteroids.
The study, performed at the University of Montreal’s Hospital Center, included 54 patients with gluteus medius tendinopathy. All patients received ultrasound-guided cortisone injections. “One month after treatment, 72 percent of the patients showed a clinically significant improvement in pain level,” said Cardinal. “Seventy percent of patients were satisfied with the results of the intervention.”
“The use of ultrasound for guiding musculoskeletal procedures has increased over the past several years,” said Cardinal. “Advantages of ultrasound over fluoroscopy include its soft-tissue imaging capabilities that allow a diagnostic study to be performed before cortisone injection. This noninvasive, nonionizing imaging technique allows continuous monitoring of the needle position, which facilitates the performance of safe and precise cortisone injections.”
SOURCE: American Journal of Roentgenology, January, 2010