Hip joint articulotrochanteric distance measurements in children: articulotrochanteric distance in children aged 5 to 14 years does not grow with age

Abstract

Background For pediatric orthopedists, previous studies have used the articulotrochanteric distance (ATD) to determine the growth of the greater trochanter in many diseases such as Legg-Calve-Perthes disease (LCPD), Developmental dysplaisa of the hips (DDH), Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), dislocation of the hips. The first objective of this study is to determine whether age affects the ATD recorded in hip orthographic radiographs of children under the age of 14. The second objective is to study the growth rate of greater trochanter. Methods We reviewed radiological results of 1787 cases of hip joint radiographs. The ATD, trochanter-to-trochanter distance (TTD), lesser trochanter-to-articular surface distance (LTA), femoral head epiphyseal plate-to-lesser trochanter distance (ELD) were measured. Group was performed according to gender and age. Independent sample t-test, one-Way ANOVA were used. Results A total of 1787 cases of hip joints from six months to 14 years old were reviewed. The overall mean ATD of male aged 5 to 14 were 23.51 mm (p > 0.05), and that of female was 21.40 mm (p > 0.05), 95% confidence interval for male was (14.96, 31.60) mm, for female it was (13.99, 30.40) mm. TTD, LTA, TTD/ELD and TTD/LTA were increased with age. k (TTD/AGE) was decreased with age and no statistical significance in k− male among male aged 8–14 (p > 0.05) and k− female among female aged 6–14 (p > 0.05). Conclusions Our data showed that the ATD of children aged 5 to 14 years old was different between male and female in hip orthographic radiographs, but there was no difference between different ages. And the greater trochanter grows faster before the age of 8 for male and 6 for female.