title: Joint distension arthrography for disabling hip pain. A controlled clinical trial.
abstract: Thirty-eight patients (age 27-73 years) with unilateral hip pain, restricted movement of the hip joint and radiologically no or only slight osteoarthrosis were studied in a double-blind controlled clinical trial. Twenty-one patients received active treatment with hip joint distension arthrography and 17 received placebo treatment. All patients were assessed clinically on entry, the day after and 3 months after treatment. The incidences of subjective improvement were similar in the two groups. Apart from a slight deterioration in the treated group of hip flexion, abduction and lateral rotation at the one-day assessment, neither group showed any change in the registered movements of the hip joint compared with the assessment on entry. The measured intermalleolar distance at maximal straight-leg abduction was the sole variable which tended to increase (p = 0.05) 3 months after active treatment. Thus, the therapeutic effect of a single treatment with joint distension seems to be dubious.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059408:Pain Management; D011859:Radiography