Anthropometric study of the hip joint in Northeastern region population with computed tomography scan

BACKGROUND: Anthropometric study of the hip joint has important clinical implications and is largely unknown for the northeastern region of India. The purpose of this study is to determine the anatomic variation of the normal hip joint among the people of the northeastern region and to statistically compare them with the available data worldwide. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated 104 individuals with normal hip joints and of different ethnic backgrounds (Caucasoid and Mongoloids) clinically and by plain x- ray. One topogram of the hip joint, one axial section of the femoral head and femoral condyles of the individual was taken on CT scan. Twelve cases had center edge angle (CE) angle less than 20° (unilateral/bilateral), were considered to be dysplastic and were excluded from the study. Thus the present study includes 92 individuals (184 normal hips, Mongoloids = 45; Caucasoid = 47) between 20-70 years of age. We calculated the mean of the CE angle, acetabular angle, neck shaft angle, acetabular version, femoral neck anteversion, acetabular depth and joint space width in both sexes. RESULTS: The mean parameters observed were as follows: acetabular angle 39.2°, centre edge angle 32.7°, neck shaft angle 139.5°, acetabular version 18.2°, femoral neck anteversion 20.4°, acetabular depth 2.5 cm and joint space width 4.5 mm. CONCLUSION: The parameter and its values in our series shows differences when compared to the other western literatures. The neck shaft angle and the femoral neck anteversion in our individuals was 5-6° more than the western literature. The remaining parameters were less or equal to the western literature.