Lateral hip pain (LHP), characterised by non-specific symptoms in the region of the greater trochanter, is a condition frequently encountered by physiotherapists and other health professionals. However, the pathogenesis of LHP is not well understood. Although pathology of the gluteal tendons and their associated bursae have long been implicated in the cause of this problem, trochanteric bursitis has emerged as the primary clinical diagnosis. In order to determine a differential diagnosis, clinicians are reliant on information collated from the patient history and physical examination, yet the validity of many of the tests used to diagnose LHP has not been established. Abnormalities of the gluteal bursae may give rise to LHP and therefore to ensure precision of clinical assessment and treatment techniques, knowledge of bursal morphology is essential. However, a review of the literature revealed that there are no complete morphological accounts of all the bursae in this area. Therefore, the main purposes of this study were (a) to determine the morphology of the bursae associated with the greater trochanter and (b) to examine the physiotherapy and radiological diagnoses of LHP, and the validity of selected tests used in the diagnosis of LHP.
In the anatomical study, the bursae deep to each of the layered gluteal tendons were examined in 21 embalmed human hips (9 male, 12 female; mean age 79 years, SD 9.4 years) using macro-dissection and histological techniques. Morphological associations, size, positions and histological characteristics of the bursae were recorded. A total of 121 bursae were identified in ten different locations, with an average of six bursae per hip. Variation was evident, but it was typical that at least two bursae were found deep to gluteus maximus (GMax) and the fascia lata, and gluteus medius (GMed). In approximately two-thirds of specimens a single bursa was situated deep to the tendon of gluteus minimus (GMin). All of these bursae demonstrated a synovial lining, which was predominantly areolar in type. This study revealed that numerous bursae are intimately associated with the greater trochanter, and provides new morphological detail which is of significance when considering clinical and biomechanical models of LHP.
A clinical study was undertaken whereby 40 consecutive patients (37 female, 3 male; mean age 54.4 years, SD 9.5 years) with unilateral LHP were recruited prospectively. Each eligible participant underwent a standardised physiotherapy assessment followed by a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging study of the pelvis and both hips. The MR images were analysed in random order by three radiologists blinded to clinical findings and symptomatic side, and the intra-and inter-observer reliability for image analysis was examined using the kappa statistic. To determine the validity of selected clinical tests as evaluated against MR imaging, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) were calculated, and the chi-squared test was used to determine association. As demonstrated by MR imaging, GMed tendon pathology, bursitis, osteoarthritis (OA) and gluteal muscle atrophy are all associated with the report of LHP. Interestingly, these various pathologies were identified in asymptomatic as well as symptomatic limbs. However, while bursitis was equally prevalent in symptomatic and asymptomatic hips, GMed tendon pathology and OA were observed more frequently on the symptomatic side. Furthermore, muscle atrophy which predominantly affected GMin, was specific to symptomatic hips.
Large variation was evident in the strength of agreement between radiologists and there was little agreement between physiotherapy and radiological diagnoses of pathology. Physiotherapists frequently diagnosed trochanteric bursitis as a cause of LHP and while palpation was identified as the most provocative test for reproducing patients complaint of LHP, it was not shown to be a valid technique. Instead, the outcomes pertaining to the validity of the clinical tests indicate that attention should be focused towards the assessment and treatment of gluteal tendon pathology. The two tests that appeared to be most useful for diagnosing gluteal tendon pathology were pain reproduction with passive hip abduction and resisted testing of GMed and GMin. While these findings demonstrate that various pathologies are associated with the report of LHP, they also highlight some problems associated with the use of MR imaging as a reference standard. Before further clinical validation studies of LHP are undertaken in larger populations, it is recommended that verification of MR imaging outcomes are performed against surgical and histological findings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/217436 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Woodley, Stephanie Jane, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Otago. Department of Anatomy & Structural Biology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://policy01.otago.ac.nz/policies/FMPro?-db=policies.fm&-format=viewpolicy.html&-lay=viewpolicy&-sortfield=Title&Type=Academic&-recid=33025&-find), Copyright Stephanie Jane Woodley |
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