Role Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging In Acute Non-Traumatic Paediatric Hip Pathology

Abstract

Background: Hip pain in children can be difficult to diagnose due to communication barriers within this age group. The differential diagnosis for children with acute non-traumatic hip pathology ranges from less harmful conditions, such as transient synovitis, to more serious problems like Perthe’s disease, as well as life-threatening conditions like septic arthritis of hip

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Aarupadai Veedu Medical College, Puducherry,  from November 2023 to October 2024 consisted 22 cases of paediatrics age group (0 to 16 years) of both genders with suspected hip pathology and all these cases underwent magnetic resonance imaging of both hips.

Results: Of the total 22 cases, 59% were male and 41% female (n=9) with predominantly unilateral hip involvement. The mean age was 8.82 and the most common cause noted was transient synovitis hip in 45.5% of the cases (n=10), followed closely by septic arthritis in 18 % (n=4) cases, 9% (n=2) had osteomyelitis, 9% (n=2) had Perthes’ disease, 9% (n=2) tumour, 4.5% (n=1) had slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), 4.5% (n=1) had developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH).

Conclusions: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best method for diagnosing hip pathologies because of its high resolution, enhanced tissue contrast discrimination it differentiates the origin of the pathology from bony, cartilaginous, soft tissue that lead to a correct diagnosis of the hip joint pathology.