Clinical Triad For Diagnosing Occult Hip Fractures With Normal Radiographs

摘要

Study Design: Prospective observational studyObjectives: The critical appraisal of the three clinical signs in the validation of patients with symptoms of hip pain with negative X-rays.Methods: 30 consecutive patients admitted with hip pain following a fall with no evidence of fracture on hip X-ray underwent MRI scanning. Mean age was 78 (range 67 - 88) years. 12 patients were male and rest were female.Results: All patients with three positive signs — tenderness in groin area; unable to straight leg raise and painful limitation of rotation of hip movements had MRI scans which showed definite fracture neck of femur. Patients with only one positive sign had normal MRI scans. Conclusion: The clinical triad of signs had 100% reproducibility and sensitivity in reliably diagnosing hip fractures in patients with normal radiographs.