Dutch scientists have reported that in manning the progress of osteoarthritis of the hip, it helps to take X-rays.
Osteoarthritis of the hip involves joint space narrowing that is accompanied by severe pain and functional impairment in the elderly. Severe condition may lead to total hip replacement operation in patients who may have suffered severe damage in the hip structure in the process of disease progression.The researchers had studied 1904 men and women in the age group of 55 years and older based on the presence of signs of osteoarthritis. They have taken X-rays of the progress of osteoarthritis, as well as checking for the Kellgren and Lawrence score at baseline. Kellgren and Lawrence score is based on an atlas of examples of X-rays to quantify the osteoarthritis of the hip, knee or hand. The presence of osteoarthritis in the X-ray films at a low level will get a Kellgren and Lawrence score of grade 1 or more.
The results of the study indicated that progression of hip osteoarthritis were quite evident in the X-ray photographs, and thus this procedure may also be used to predict osteoarthritis in people who have hip pain.
