A comparative radiographic investigation of femoroacetabular impingement in young patients with and without hip pain.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the existence of radiographic abnormalities in two groups of patients, those with and without hip pain.


METHODS
A total 222 patients were evaluated between March 2007 and April 2009; 122 complained of groin pain, and 100 had no symptoms. The individuals in both groups underwent radiographic examinations of the hip using the following views: anteroposterior, Lequesne false profile, Dunn, Dunn 45º, and Ducroquet.


RESULTS
A total of 1110 radiographs were evaluated. Female patients were prevalent in both groups (52% symptomatic, 58% asymptomatic). There were statistically significant differences between the groups in age (p<0.0001), weight (p = 0.002) and BMI (p = 0.006). The positive findings in the group with groin pain consisted of the presence of a bump on the femoral head in the anteroposterior view (p<0.0001) or in the Dunn 45º view (p = 0.008). The difference in the a angle in the anteroposterior, Dunn, Dunn 45º, and Ducroquet views for all of the cases studied was p,0.0001. The joint space measurement differed significantly between groups in the Lequesne view (p = 0.007). The Lequesne anteversion angle (ρ) and the femoral offset measurement also differed significantly (p = 0.005 and p = 0.0001, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that the best views for diagnosing a femoroacetabular impingement are the anteroposterior pelvic orthostatic, the Dunn 45º, and the Ducroquet views. The following findings correlated with hip pain: a decrease in the femoral offset, an increase in the α angle, an increase in the Lequesne ρ angle, a decrease in the CE angle of Wiberg, a thinner articular space and the presence of a bump on the femoral head-neck transition.
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Arthroplasty Service, Brazil. omarfmiguel@gmail.com
Omar Ferreira
OF
Miguel
Henrique Berwanger de Amorim
HB
Cabrita
Marcelo Bordalo
MB
Rodrigues
Alberto Tesconi
AT
Croci
D000328:Adult; D018771:Arthralgia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D057925:Femoracetabular Impingement / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005270:Femur Head / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011859:Radiography; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult