US-Guided Interventional Procedures for Total Hip Arthroplasty

In patients with total hip arthroplasty (THA) with recurrent pain, symptoms may be caused by several conditions involving not just the joint, but also the surrounding soft tissues including tendons, muscles, bursae, and peripheral nerves. US and US-guided interventional procedures are important tools in the diagnostic work-up of patients with painful THA given that it is possible to reach a prompt diagnosis both directly identifying the pathological changes of periprosthetic structures and indirectly evaluating the response and pain relief to local injection of anesthetics under US monitoring. Then, US guidance can be used for the aspiration of fluid from the joint or periarticular collections, or alternatively to follow the biopsy needle to collect samples for culture analysis in the suspicion of prosthetic joint infection. Furthermore, US-guided percutaneous interventions may be used to treat several conditions with well-established minimally invasive procedures that involve injections of corticosteroid, local anesthetics, and platelet-rich plasma or other autologous products. In this review, we will discuss the clinical and technical applications of US-guided percutaneous interventional procedures in painful THA that can be used in routine daily practice for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.