Chronic hip pain in adults: Current knowledge and future prospective

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedics
• Pain Management
• Musculoskeletal Medicine

Background:

• Chronic hip pain significantly impacts daily activities and quality of life.
• Diagnosis is challenging due to potential lumbar spine, knee, or non-orthopaedic pain sources.
• Accurate diagnosis relies on detailed patient history, hip anatomy knowledge, physical exams, and investigations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive overview of chronic hip pain.
• To detail the anatomy, causes, assessment, investigation, and management strategies.
• To focus on evidence-based treatments for hip osteoarthritis, greater trochanteric pain syndrome, meralgia paresthetica, and piriformis syndrome.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of current literature on chronic hip pain.
• Discussion of diagnostic approaches including patient history, physical examination, and investigations.
• Evaluation of mechanistic-based multimodal therapeutic strategies.

Main Results:

• Fluoroscopic-guided radiofrequency shows potential for long-term pain relief (up to 36 months) in hip joint periarticular branches.
• Ultrasound is increasingly used for interventional pain procedures.
• Evidence for platelet-rich plasma in chronic hip osteoarthritis pain remains inconclusive.

Conclusions:

• Effective management requires a multimodal approach targeting pain pathways.
• Further research is needed to compare ultrasound- and fluoroscopic-guided procedures.
• Long-term studies are essential to evaluate the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma and radiofrequency treatments.