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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 Jul;52(3):313-322.
doi: 10.1007/s10396-025-01548-x. Epub 2025 May 14.

Anterolateral hip injection approach under portable ultrasound guidance: a prospective randomized controlled trial versus conventional ultrasound

Jiamu Liu  1   2   3 , Jingjie Huang  1   2   3 , Yiling Tan  1   2   3 , Ying Zhang  1   2   3 , Yun He  4 , Xing Hua  4 , Tiao Su  1   2   3 , Guangxing Chen  5   6   7
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Anterolateral hip injection approach under portable ultrasound guidance: a prospective randomized controlled trial versus conventional ultrasound

Jiamu Liu et al. J Med Ultrason (2001). 2025 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate an innovative anterolateral approach using portable ultrasound, comparing the accuracy and safety of portable ultrasound-guided, conventional ultrasound-guided, and landmark-based blind injection techniques.

Methods: In this single-centre, prospective, randomised controlled trial, 117 patients with hip pain were randomly assigned to three groups: landmark-based blind injection (n = 39), conventional ultrasound-guided injection (n = 39), and portable ultrasound-guided injection (n = 39). Each patient received a unilateral injection of 2.5 ml hyaluronic acid and 1 ml betamethasone via the anterolateral approach, using parameters optimized from previous research. Primary endpoints included success and accuracy rates, while secondary endpoints comprised post-injection visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores, procedure time, puncture depth, and complications.

Results: The portable ultrasound group achieved 100% success and accuracy rates, comparable to the conventional ultrasound group, whereas the blind group showed lower success (87.2%) and accuracy (79.4%) rates. Post-injection VAS pain scores were significantly lower in the portable ultrasound group (1.95, SD 0.99) compared with the blind group (2.95, SD 1.61; p = 0.007) and similar to those in the conventional ultrasound group (2.41, SD 1.27; p = 0.337). Procedure times were comparable across all groups, and no significant differences in puncture depth were observed. Importantly, no injection-related complications were reported.

Conclusion: Portable ultrasound-guided injections via the anterolateral approach demonstrate accuracy and safety comparable to conventional ultrasound-guided injections. Additionally, the portable device offers advantages in portability, reduced space requirements, and cost-effectiveness, thereby enhancing clinical utility in outpatient settings.

Keywords: Accuracy; Anterolateral approach; Hip injection; Portable ultrasound; Safety.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: Jiamu Liu, Jingjie Huang, Yiling Tan, Ying Zhang, Yun He, Xing Hua, Tiao Su, and Guangxing Chen declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Ethical approval: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, Chongqing, China. The procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Helsinki Declaration. Ethical Approval Number: KY2023092. This trial was registered on chictr.org.cn (Registration ID: ChiCTR230007417). Human rights declaration and informed consent: All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964, as well as subsequent versions. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent for Publication: It was obtained from patients for the publication of their data and accompanying images.

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