Young Adult Hip Dysplasia: An Important and Under-recognised Clinical Cause of Hip Pain on Plain Radiographs

Objective Hip pain is the main indication for hip radiographs, which comprise a significant proportion of outpatient radiograph examinations. Our objective was to identify the level of commonality of hip dysplasia among patients with hip pain in our institution. Methods All hip and pelvic radiographs with reports including keywords “hip pain” during the period from December 2016 to November 2017 were reviewed. The lateral centre-edge angle and the Tonnis angle were used for reference. Severity of positive findings was also graded. Interpretations of radiographs were made by three musculoskeletal radiologists followed by calculation of its incidence. Results A total of 145 pelvic radiographs from 145 patients were included for analysis. Radiographs of 25 out of 145 (17.2%) patients revealed the presence of hip dysplasia. Conclusion Young adult hip dysplasia is a common cause of hip pain.