Skip to main content

Abstract

This chapter reviews the basic pathophysiology, diagnostic principles, relevant anatomy, evidence bases, interventional techniques, and potential complications related to joint injections in the lower extremity. Specifically, this review will focus on the three most common intra-articular injection sites of the lower extremity: the hip, knee, and ankle joints. The commonest underlying disease processes at each joint will be reviewed, as well as the symptomatology, risk factors, and diagnostic criteria. The current literature and level of evidence for each joint injection site will be reviewed. Injection techniques utilizing both fluoroscopy and ultrasound guidance are discussed, as well as multiple approaches for the joint when appropriate. In addition, images of both real fluoroscopic and ultrasound-guided injections will supplement the text to help conceptualize the specific joint anatomy, as well as correct needle placement. The chapter will also provide a basic framework for the clinician to develop an appropriate pre- and postinjection discussion with the patient.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Ziv YB, Kardosh R, Debi R, et al. An inexpensive and accurate method for hip injections without the use of imaging. J Clin Rheumatol. 2009;15:103–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Levi DS. Intra-articular hip injections using ultrasound guidance: accuracy using a linear array transducer. PMR. 2013;5:129–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Dold AP, Zywiel MG, Taylor DW, et al. Systematic review of PRP in articular cartilage pathology. Clin J Sport Med. 2014;24:31–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Byrd JW, Potts EA, Allison RK, et al. Ultrasound-guided hip injections: a comparative study with fluoroscopy-guided injections. Arthroscopy. 2014;30:42–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Sharpe RE, Nazarian LN, Parker L, et al. Dramatically increased musculoskeletal ultrasound utilization from 2000 to 2009, especially by podiatrists in private offices. J Am Coll Radiol. 2012;9:141–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Smith J, Hurdle MF. Office-based ultrasound-guided intra-articular hip injection: technique for physiatric practice. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2006;87:296–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Wood AM, Brock TM, Heil K, et al. A review on the management of hip and knee osteoarthritis. Int J Chron Dis. 2013;1:10.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Juhakoski R, Heliövaara M, Impivaara O, et al. Risk factors for the development of hip osteoarthritis: a population-based prospective study. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2009;48:83–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Finnoff JT, Hall MM, Adams E. American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) position statement: interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound in sports medicine. PMR. 2015;12:151–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Chandrasekaran S, Lodhia P, Suarez-Ahedo C. Symposium: evidence for the use of intra-articular cortisone or hyaluronic acid injection in the hip. J Hip Preserv Surg. 2015;2:10.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Micu MC, Bogdan GD, Fodor D. Steroid injection for hip osteoarthritis: efficacy under ultrasound guidance. Rheumatology. 2010;49:1490–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Deshmukh AJ, Thakur RR, Goyal A. Accuracy of diagnostic injection in differentiating source of atypical hip pain. J Arthroplast. 2010;25:129–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Migliore A, Tormenta S, Martin LS, et al. The symptomatic effects of intra-articular administration of hylan G-F 20 on osteoarthritis of the hip: clinical data of 6 months follow-up. Clin Rheumatol. 2006;25:389–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Mulvaney SW. A review of viscosupplementation for osteoarthritis of the hip and a description of an ultrasound-guided hip injection technique. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2009;8:291–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Sutlive TG, Lopez HP, Schnitker DE. Development of a clinical prediction rule for diagnosing hip osteoarthritis in individuals with unilateral hip pain. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2008;38:542–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kellgren JH, Lawrence JS. Radiological assessment of osteo-arthrosis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1957;16:494–502.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Liu B, Balkwill A, Banks E, et al. Relationship of height, weight and body mass index to the risk of hip and knee replacements in middle-aged women. Rheumatology. 2007;46:861–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Jacobson JA. Fundamentals of musculoskeletal ultrasound. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Weiss JM, Lennard TA, Silver JK, et al. Easy injections. London: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Oppermann BP, Cote JK, Morris SJ, et al. Pseudoseptic arthritis: a case series and review of the literature. Case Rep Infect Dis. 2011;2011:942023.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Jinks C, Jordan K, Croft P. Measuring the population impact of knee pain and disability with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Pain. 2002;100:55–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Cheng OT, Souzdainitski D, Vrooman B, et al. Evidence based knee injections for the management of arthritis. Pain Med. 2012;13:740–53.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Zeni JA Jr, Axe MJ, Snyder-Mackler L. Clinical predictors of elective total joint replacement in persons with end-stage knee osteoarthritis. BMC Musculoskelet Dis. 2010;11:86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Anderson J, Felson D. Factors associated with osteoarthritis of the knee in the first national health and nutrition examination survey (Hanes I) evidence for an association with overweight, race and physical demands of work. Am J Epidemiol. 1987;128:179–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Felson DT, Naimark A, Anderson J, et al. The prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in the elderly. The Framingham Osteoarthritis study. Arthritis Rheum. 1987;30:914–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Holwell EB. Two cases of tuberculous disease of the knee-joint treated by iodoform injections. Br Med J. 1987;2:397–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Miller JH, White J, Norton TH. The value of intra-articular injections in osteoarthritis of the knee. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1958;40-B:636–43.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Neustadt DH. Intra-articular injections for osteoarthritis of the knee. Cleve Clin J Med. 2006;73:897–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Kon E, Buda R, Filardo G, et al. Platelet-rich plasma: intra-articular knee injections produced favorable results on degenerative cartilage lesions. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2010;18:472–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Jackson DW, Evans NA, Thomas BM. Accuracy of needle placement into the intra-articular space of the knee. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2002;84-A:1522–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Nguyen US, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, et al. Increasing prevalence of knee pain and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155:725–32.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Wallen M, Gillies D. Intra-articular steroids and splints/rest for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and adults with rheumatoid arthritis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;1:CD002824.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Godwin M, Dawes M. Intra-articular steroid injections for painful knees. Systematic review with meta-analysis. Can Fam Physician. 2004;50:241–8.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. JJ W, Shih LY, Hsu HC, et al. The double-blind test of sodium hyaluronate (ARTZ) on osteoarthritis knee. Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi (Taipei). 1997;59:99–106.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Tanaka N, Sakahashi H, Sato E, et al. Intra-articular injection of high molecular weight hyaluronan after arthrocentesis as treatment for rheumatoid knees with joint effusion. Rheumatol Int. 2002;22:151–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Bannuru RR, Natov NS, Obadan IE, et al. Therapeutic trajectory of hyaluronic acid versus corticosteroids in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arthritis Rheum. 2009;61:1704–11.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Berkoff DJ, Miller LE, Block JE. Clinical utility of ultrasound guidance for intra-articular knee injections: a review. Clin Interv Aging. 2012;7:89–95.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Guermazi A, Hayashi D, Roemer F, et al. Severe radiographic knee osteoarthritis – does Kellgren and Lawrence grade 4 represent end stage disease? – the MOST study. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2015;23(9):1499–505.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Margo BJ, Radnay CS, Scuderi GR. Anatomy of the knee. In: Scuderi GR, Tria Jr AJ, editors. The knee. London: World Scientific Publishing; 2010. p. 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Benzon HT, Raja S, Liu S, et al. Essentials of pain medicine. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Reach JS, Easley ME, Chuckpaiwong B, et al. Accuracy of ultrasound guided injections in the foot and ankle. Foot Ankle Int. 2009;30:239–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Masala S, Fiori R, Bartolucci DA, et al. Diagnostic and therapeutic joint injections. Semin Intervent Radiol. 2010;27:160–71.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Saltzman CL, Salamon ML, Blanchard GM, et al. Epidemiology of ankle arthritis: report of a consecutive series of 639 patients from a tertiary orthopaedic center. Iowa Orthop J. 2005;25:44–6.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Barg A, Pagenstert GI, Hugle T, et al. Ankle osteoarthritis: etiology, diagnostics, and classification. Foot Ankle Clin. 2013;18:411–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Scott DL, Wolfe F, Huizinga TW. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 2010;376:1094–108.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Wisniewski SJ, Smith J, Patterson DG, et al. Ultrasound-guided versus nonguided tibiotalar joint and sinus tarsi injections: a cadaveric study. PMR. 2010;2(4):277–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Khosla S, Thiele R, Baumhauer JF. Ultrasound guidance for intra-articular injections of the foot and ankle. Foot Ankle Int. 2009;30:886–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Gilliland CA, Salazar LD, Borchers JR. Ultrasound versus anatomic guidance for intra-articular and periarticular injection: a systematic review. Phys Sportsmed. 2011;39:121–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Wright PR, Fox MG, Alford B, et al. An alternative injection technique for performing MR ankle arthrography: the lateral mortise approach. Skelet Radiol. 2014;43:27–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Lucas Y, Hernandez J, Darcel V, Chauveaux D, et al. Viscosupplementation of the ankle: a prospective study with an average follow-up of 45.5 months. Orthop Traumatol Surg Res. 2013;99:593–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Jones A, Regan M, Ledingham J, et al. Importance of placement of intra-articular steroid injections. BMJ. 1993;307:1329–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  52. Salk RS, Chang TJ, D'costa WF, et al. Sodium hyaluronate in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the ankle: a controlled, randomized, double-blind pilot study. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006;88(2):295–302.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Migliore A, Giovannangeli F, Bizzi E, et al. Viscosupplementation in the management of ankle osteoarthritis: a review. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2011;131:139–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Cohen MM, Altman RD, Hollstrom R, et al. Safety and efficacy of intra-articular sodium hyaluronate (Hyalgan) in a randomized, double-blind study for osteoarthritis of the ankle. Foot Ankle Int. 2008;29:657–63.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Heidari N, Pichler W, Grechenig S, et al. Does the anteromedial or anterolateral approach alter the rate of joint puncture in injection of the ankle?: a cadaver study. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2010;92:176–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Witteveen AG, Kok A, Sierevelt IN, et al. The optimal injection technique for the osteoarthritic ankle: a randomized, cross-over trial. Foot Ankle Surg. 2013;19:283–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Fox MG, Wright PR, Alford B, et al. Lateral mortise approach for therapeutic ankle injection: an alternative to the anteromedial approach. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2013;200:1096–100.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Goncalves B, Ambrosio C, Serra S, et al. US-guided interventional joint procedures in patients with rheumatic diseases—when and how we do it? Eur J Radiol. 2011;79:407–14.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Ford LT, DeBender J. Tendon rupture after local steroid injection. South Med J. 1979;72:827–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajiv Reddy .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Reddy, R., Clark, R., McCormick, Z., Chang Chien, G.C., Candido, K.D. (2018). Lower Extremity Joint Injections. In: Manchikanti, L., Kaye, A., Falco, F., Hirsch, J. (eds) Essentials of Interventional Techniques in Managing Chronic Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60361-2_43

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60361-2_43

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60359-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60361-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics