Intra-articular therapy in hip osteoarthritis.

Abstract

Several therapeutic options have been used in the past for treatment of patients with hip osteoarthritis (HO). In recent years we have witnessed to the introduction of the intra-articular injection (IA) of hyaluronic acid (HA) in clinical practice. This technique was initially used to treat knee arthritis, for which was actually introduced, but hip anatomy itself (deeper joint structure) and technical features (different methods) pose more challenges. However, results look promising in terms of symptoms improvement and delaying prosthetic surgery. Indeed, it does appear mandatory to increase pool of available data with further studies in order to refine techniques, make them more effective, and target patients who could potentially benefit more than others from treatment.