Fatigue stress injuries of the pelvic bones and proximal femur: evaluation with MR imaging

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and the distribution as well as male/female differences in patients with hip or pelvic pain based on MRI results. Three hundred forty consecutive conscripts (45 women, 295 men; age range 18-29 years; mean age 20.7 years) suffering from stress-related hip, buttock or groin pain took part in the study. All 340 patients underwent MR imaging. Radiographic data were available for 215 patients. Two radiologists interpreted the images by consensus. In MRI 174 stress injuries were diagnosed in 137 patients (32 women, 105 men). The incidence of bone stress injuries in women was significantly higher than that in men ( p