Feasibility of ultrasonic quantitative evaluation for normal hip labrum size in adults

Abstract

Objective To analyze the feasibility of ultrasound (US) measurement for hip labrum with reference from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurement for hip joint. Methods From July 2020 to June 2021, 42 patients with hip pain admitted in our hospital were enrolled in this study. They were 20 males and 22 females, and aged between 18 and 69 years old (mean 39.1±12.5 years old). Only the hip labrum of their healthy side were subjected for observation, including 12 left hips and 30 right hips. All patients underwent MRI and US examination for hip joint, and the measurement parameters included the thickness, and lengths and areas of anterior labrum, upper labrum and posterior labrum. Paired t test and rank sum test were used to compare the differences between the 2 measurements, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was adopt to compare the consistency of the 2 methods. Results The measurements of anterior hip labrum: thickness 3.41±0.62 vs 3.59±0.54 mm, length 7.90 (6.50, 8.75) vs 7.67±1.06 mm, area 0.17 (0.12, 0.19) vs 0.17±0.05 mm2 (US vs MRI). The measurements of upper hip labrum: thickness 4.20 (3.60, 4.75) vs 4.20±0.65 mm, length 6.80 (6.05, 8.10) vs 4.20±0.65 mm, area 0.19 (0.15, 0.22) vs MRI 0.18 (0.15, 0.24) mm2. The measurements of posterior hip labrum: thickness 3.77±0.61 vs 3.71±0.61 mm, length 6.73±1.12 vs 6.71±1.09 mm, area 0.16 (0.13, 0.21) vs 0.16 (0.13, 0.19) mm2. There was significant difference in the thickness of anterior hip labrum between US and MRI measurements (P 0.4) in the measurements of hip labrum generally, except for the area of anterior hip labrum and the length and area of posterior hip labrum (ICC < 0.4). Conclusion US and MRI measurements show good agreement for the hip labrum. US examination can be used as an alternative or in addition to the initial imaging of the labrum of hip joint.

Keywords

• ultrasonography doppler color
• magnetic resonance imaging
• hip labrum