Findings from a study published online in the journal Arthroscopy suggest that periacetabular injection of bupivacaine may be superior to intra-articular injection for pain reduction following hip arthroscopy. 

The authors conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 42 consecutive patients scheduled for hip arthroscopy who received either preemptive intra-articular 20 mL of bupivacaine 0.5% injection (n = 21) or preemptive periacetabular 20 mL of bupivacaine 0.5% injection (n = 21). At 30 minutes and 18 hours postoperative, they found that visual analog scale scores were significantly lower in the periacetabular cohort compared with in the intra-articular cohort. The authors found no differences between groups with regard to analgesic consumption. Learn more...