The Efficacy of Ultrasound Guided Posterior Sacroiliac Ligament Corticosteroid Injection in Pregnancy-Related Pelvic Girdle Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) in pregnancy is common with prevalence estimates of 45%.1 It is defined as pain experienced between the posterior iliac crest and the gluteal fold, particularly in the region of the sacroiliac joint.2 Pain may radiate in the posterior thigh and can also occur in conjunction with/or separately in the symphysis. In PGP, the endurance capacity for standing, walking and sitting is diminished. The diagnosis of PGP can be reached after exclusion of lumbar causes and must be reproducible by specific clinical tests. While various pain mechanisms including mechanical, hormonal, inflammatory, and neural have been proposed in the development of PGP, the etiology and pathogenesis is poorly understood. It is possible that musculoskeletal changes influenced by hormonal (Relaxin) elevation in pregnancy predispose pregnant women to acute musculoskeletal injury presenting clinically as PGP. An inflammatory response in other acute musculoskeletal injuries has been well described3 and may also occur in pregnancy related PGP particularly given the musculoskeletal vulnerability during this time. Though PGP is common in pregnancy, no study to date has investigated the efficacy of anti-inflammatory treatment in pregnancy related PGP in order to better establish the contribution of inflammation in the etiology of pregnancy related PGP.