MR imaging of overuse injuries of the hip.

The aim of this article is to emphasize the importance of MR imaging in the evaluation of chronic hip pain and overuse injuries. Image interpretation of the hip can be difficult because of the complex anatomy and the varied pathology that athletes can present with, such as labral and cartilaginous injuries, surrounding soft tissue derangement involving muscles or tendons, and osseous abnormalities. The differential diagnosis in adults is diverse and includes such common entities as stress fracture, avulsive injuries, snapping-hip syndrome, iliopsoas bursitis, femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, tendinosis, and tears of the gluteal musculature.