Background: chronic non-traumatic hip pain is a commonly encountered problem in the adult population. The etiology includes intraarticular causes, extra-articular causes, and even referred pain.
Patients and methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to retrospectively characterize the MRI findings in a random sample of 50 adult patients complaining of chronic non-traumatic hip pain.
Results: The most frequent MRI finding was bone marrow edema, followed by joint effusion. Eighteen cases were reported as normal while 32 cases were reported to have pathology. The most frequently reported pathology was osteoarthritis followed by avascular necrosis. Other cases were bursitis, transient osteoporosis, acetabular labrum tear, femoro-acetabular impingement, myositis, osteochondroma, osteoid osteoma, and stress fracture.
Conclusion: MRI is an appropriate imaging modality in cases of chronic non-traumatic hip pain in adults especially when the initial clinical and imaging findings are non-conclusive. MRI without contrast is the main technique used, MR arthrography should be used when suspecting an intraarticular pathology while IV contrast can be used in cases with suspected inflammation.