Assessing The Effectiveness of Ultrasound-Guided Injections of Steroid for Knee Osteoarthritis on Three Different Sites: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Osteoarthritis is one of the immobilizing musculoskeletal diseases of knee joints. To reduce the symptoms of knee OA, intra-articular injections and ultrasound guidance have been reported to improve. This study aimed to explore the impact of ultrasound-guided injections at various sites at the knee joint. Methods: A single-blinded randomized controlled study was carried out at Civil Hospital Hyderabad, Memon Hospital Hyderabad, and Tando Adam Hospital. The duration of the Study was from January 2024 to June 2024. One hundred and twenty subjects having grade III and IV knee OA were enrolled in the study. Participants were randomly divided to receive ultrasound-guided intra-articular injections of Steroids using the envelop method of simple random technique into three of the treatment groups i.e. Group A, B, and C receiving Superolateral US-guided IA, mid-medial US-guided IA, and mid-lateral US-guided IA injections respectively. The study involved grade III and grade IV osteoarthritis patients with bilateral knee, with age from 50 to 70 years. Data was analyzed as a Chi-square Test by using SPSS (version 22, p≤0.05, 95% confidence). Results: 100% injection accuracy was observed in subjects with grade III and IV OA patients for the medial approach and 95% for the mediolateral approach. There was no difference seen statistically in all three methods. Conclusion: The effectiveness of ultrasound-guided intra-articular steroid injections at the Superolateral, mid-medial, and midlateral in treating knee osteoarthritis (OA) supports the clinical use of ultrasound guidance to enhance treatment outcomes for knee OA.