Intracapsular pressure monitoring during arthrographic evaluation of painful hip prostheses.

Aspiration-arthrography with continuous monitoring of intraarticular pressure and volume was performed on 10 consecutive patients with painful total-hip arthroplasties. Five of these patients demonstrated clinical and arthrographic evidence of adhesive capsulitis, a condition that was associated with a dramatic rise of intraarticular pressure as increasing amounts of contrast material were introduced. The precise etiology of adhesive capsulitis is not clear.