Radiological investigations are essential in the work-up of patients presenting with non-arthritic hip pain, to allow close review of the complex anatomy around the hip and proximal femur. The aim of this study is to quantify the radiation exposure associated with common radiological investigations performed in assessing young adult patients presenting with non-arthritic hip pain.

A retrospective review of our UK tertiary hip preservation centre institutional imaging database was performed. Data was obtained for antero-posterior, cross-table lateral and frog-lateral radiographs, along with data for the low dose CT hip protocol and the Mako CT Hip protocol. The radiation dose of each imaging technique was measured in terms of dose-area product (DAP) with units of mGycm2, and the effective doses (ED, mSv) calculated.

The mean effective radiation dose for hip radiographs was in the range 0.03 to 0.83mSv (mean DLP 126.7–156.2 mGycm2). The mean effective dose associated with the low-dose CT hip protocol was 3.04mSv (416.8 mGycm2) and for the Stryker Mako CT Hip protocol was 8.4mSv (1061 mGycm2). The radiation dose associated with use of CT imaging was significantly greater than plain radiographs (p<0.005)

Investigation of non-arthritic hip pain can lead to significant ionising radiation exposure for patients. In our institution, the routine protocol is to obtain an anteroposterior radiograph and then a specific hip sequence 3 Tesla MRI including anteversion views. This provides the necessary information in the majority of cases, with CT scanning reserved for more complex cases where we feel there is a specific indication. We would encourage the hip preservation community to carefully consider and review the use of ionising radiation investigations.