COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN INTRA-ARTICULAR CORTICOSTEROID INJECTION AND GENICULAR NERVE BLOCK UNDER ULTRASOUND GUIDANCE IN PAIN CONTROL OF KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Recently, genicular nerve block (GNB) was introduced as a new technique to relieve knee pain in chronic knee osteoarthritis patients. While intra-articular corticosteroid injection (IACSI) used to be a traditional treatment option to relieve knee osteoarthritis related pains. Both techniques have been used. However, whether one is superior to the other remains controversial.
Aim of work:
This study aims to investigatethe efficacy of ultrasound-guided GNB and IACSI in the management of knee osteoarthritis-related pains and to determine which technique carried better results.
Methods:
Forty patients with chronic knee osteo-arthritis were randomly treated with either genicular nerve block (GNB) (n = 20) or intra-articular corticosteroid injection (IACSI) (n = 20). Clinical response was assessed using Visual analog scale (VAS), and Oxford Knee Score (OKS) at baseline and 2, 4, and 8 weeks post procedure.
Results:
The VAS score and OKS score were significantly low in the GNB group and IACSI group at 2, and 4 weeks after the procedure (P < 0.001 for all), then returned near baseline at 8 weeks. When the two groups were compared according to changes in VAS and OKS from baseline at 2, 4, and 8 weeks, GNB group showed significant alleviation of pain (P < 0.001 for 2 and 4 weeks and < 0.006 for 8 weeks) and improvement in function (P < 0.001 for 2, 4 and 8 weeks) compared to IACSI group.