Pain distribution in primary care patients affected by femoroacetabular impingement

Abstract

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a well-known cause of hip pain deter-mined by morphological abnormalities between the femoral neck and the acetabular rim. In this work, we studied the pain location and distribution in subjects affected by FAI, in order to evaluate and identify the most common anatomical areas associated to this pathology. Fifty-two subjects, 29 females and 23 males, with an average age of 42 ± 13 years with clinical and radio-graphic confirmed FAI, were enrolled. Twenty-eight patients without signs of hip impingements were used as control group. The most frequent body areas where the pain was felt were lumbar-pelvic (41 %), knee (16 %), groin (14 %), and cervical shoulder region (12 %). Analyzing the data obtained among the two genders, the prevalence of pain in lumbar-pelvic region was observed both in males and females. Moreover, the males aged older than 40 years predominantly reported pain in lumbar-pelvic region, while females presented a higher variability in pain distribution, although pain in cervical-shoulder region was the most common. Collectively, a heterogeneous pain location and distribution was observed, and no specific was reported as distinctive of this pathology. However, the correlation between the pain location and the radiological findings could be useful to clinicians to implement early optimal conservative treatments and work/sport restrictions in order to monitor the evolution of pathology and improve patient's outcomes before a possible surgical treatment.