Delay in Time to Diagnosis of Idiopathic Transient Osteoporosis of the Hip with Radiographs: Diagnostic Insights from a Series of 10 Cases

Introduction: Transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) is a poorly recognized self-limiting clinical entity. Due to a lack of awareness among the clinicians, the condition is often misdiagnosed leading to inappropriate treatment, thereby lengthening the time to diagnosis (TTD). In this study, we analyze the delay in TTD of TOH using plain radiographs and present the optimal management strategy. Case Report: We retrospectively collected the data of patients who were diagnosed with TOH from March 2017 to March 2022. A total of 10 patients with a mean age of 43.7 years (range 33-56 years) were included in the study. The mean time to presentation from the onset of symptoms was 4 weeks (range 2-8 weeks) Radiologic evaluation with radiographs was sensitive in only 8 patients with osteopenia, whereas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was sensitive in all the patients and aided in early diagnosis of TOH. Radiographic evaluation alone leads to a mean delay in TTD of 1.6 weeks (range 0-8 weeks) in our study. All the patients were treated conservatively without any major complications. Conclusion: Plain radiographs were not sensitive in the early detection of TOH and increased the TTD by 1.6 weeks, however, MRI imaging was found to be highly sensitive and specific in diagnosing TOH.