This systematic review identified 29 studies. The included studies used MRI, MRA and CT to investigate the prevalence of intra-articular hip pathologies. Most studies had a moderate to high risk of bias and a generally limited external validity.
Labral tear prevalence is high in both those with (62%) and without (54%) hip, groin or buttock pain. Cartilage defects were evident in 64% of symptomatic individuals, considerably more than the 12% of asymptomatic individuals.
Bone marrow lesions and ligamentum teres tears also appear to be more prevalent in individuals with pain. Herniation pits and paralabral cysts are seen at similar rates in individuals with and without pain.
Similar to other anatomical regions such as the spine, knee and shoulder, this review found a quarter of asymptomatic individuals have imaging defined hip pathology.
This highlights an uncertain relationship of imaging findings and pain. A greater understanding of this relationship may improve the selection of conservative versus surgical interventions for intra-articular hip pathologies as some hip pathologies targeted by surgical management may exist within the normal spectrum.
> From: Heerey et al., Br J Sports Med 52 (2018) 581-593 . All rights reserved to The Author(s). Click here for the online summary.
