Greater Trochanteric Bursa Injection

• Purpose – To treat swelling and inflammation of lateral hip pain.

• Overview – The injection delivers a high dose of anesthetic and anti-inflammatory solution directly into the greater trochanteric bursa, a small fluid-filled sac in the hip. The injection improves pain and inflammation from mechanical stress due to athletic overuse, acute trauma, or degenerative symptoms.

• Before the procedure – The anti-inflammatory solution may increase blood sugars. Consult your primary care doctor or endocrinologist before this procedure if you have a history of elevated blood sugars.

• Details – If the physician uses fluoroscopy, the patient is positioned on his or her abdomen. Then, the injection site is numbed. Following the numbing solution, radiopaque dye is used as a contrast solution under x-ray guidance to confirm the correct needle position. Once the accurate location is determined, the anesthetic and anti-inflammatory is laterally injected into the synovial fluid-filled sac, or adjacently into the joint space. If the physician does not use fluoroscopy, the patient will be asked to lie on his or her non-painful side.

• After the procedure – The patient may experience numbness at the injection site. It may take two to three hours before there is relief from the injection.
• Possible side effects – Infection, neurovascular injury, thinning or articular cartilage, or rupture of soft tissue structures, including tendons. Pain can be treated with ice and NSAIDS.