Article

This study compared the accuracy of blind glenohumeral joint (GHJ)
injections between physical medicine and rehabilitation interventional fellows
(inexperienced provider) and a sports medicine board-certified physical medicine
and rehabilitation attending physician (experienced provider) using either an
anterior or posterior approach. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 162
consecutive patients comprising 165 GHJ injections was performed. All GHJ
injections were initially placed via anatomic landmark guidance by either an
experienced or an inexperienced provider. Contrast medium using live fluoroscopy
was injected to determine if intra-articular placement had been obtained.
RESULTS: The overall accuracy of a blind GHJ injection, regardless of the
provider level of experience, was 45.5%. The inexperienced provider was accurate
37.6% of the time, and the experienced provider was accurate 64.6% of the time.
The difference in provider accuracy based on level of experience was shown to be
statistically significant at P less than 0.05. There was no statistically
significant difference between the anterior and posterior approaches regardless
of physician level of experience. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest
that image guidance is an important utility for accurate navigation into the GHJ
space regardless of the level of training. Neither the anterior nor the posterior
approach proved to be significantly more accurate.

Langue : ANGLAIS