New trial suggests steroid injection benefits for hip pain

A trial led by a team at Keele University in Staffordshire has suggested that patients with hip pain may benefit from an injection of steroids into the affected joint, offering fresh hope for patients with osteoarthritis of the hip, who have ‘limited’ treatment options.

 

The team examined levels of pain in 199 adults over the age of 40 whose hip osteoarthritis gave them a ‘moderate’ amount of pain, over a period of six months.

 

During the trial, a third of the patients received their usual care, another third were given standard care and an injection of a steroid with a local anaesthetic into the hip, and the final third received an injection of local anaesthetic, plus their usual care.

 

The findings revealed that patients who had the steroid injection were more likely to report an improvement in pain levels after six months.

 

The authors of the study concluded “These findings provide evidence to inform international guidelines and offer important choice to patients, who often believe their treatment options are limited.”

 

They did, however, warn that a patient in this group with a pre-existing prosthetic heart valve died from a bacterial infection four months after the injection, which was deemed to be “possibly related to the trial treatment”.

 

Hip osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability, and prompted 90 per cent of the 100,000 hip replacements conducted in the UK in 2019, but not all patients need surgery and many are treated by GPs for years before being referred.

 

Chadwick Lawrence’s specialist team of clinical negligence lawyers have years of experience in medical negligence claims, providing support and guidance after life-changing events.  Not only do we represent clients in Yorkshire, but because of our reputation we also represent clients nationally.

 

If you believe that you or a relative may have been injured as a result of clinical/medical negligence, please call for free legal advice from our medical negligence solicitors on the freephone number below.

 

Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

 

Freephone : 0800 304 7382