Medial synovial entrapment syndrome of the hip in Chinese children

BACKGROUND: "Medial synovial entrapment syndrome of the hip" is a preliminary name given by the authors to describe the topic of this paper. The authors hope to elicit the concern of clinicians and further explore the feasibility of this nomenclature for the described syndrome. METHODS: A total of 26 children with synovial disorder of the hip complained of limited motion and pain of various degrees in the hip, and a limp or refusal to bear weight. Clinical presentation, image studies, course and management were thoroughly reviewed and compared with other well-established synovial disorders of the hip. RESULTS: Twenty-two of the patients were cured by bedrest, skin traction and manipulative reduction. The remaining four patients were treated with surgery and had satisfactory results. Because of its unique clinical manifestation and the good results obtained from manipulative reduction, it is difficult to compare this condition with any other well-established disease entities. Thus, the authors suggest medial synovial entrapment syndrome of the hip (SES) as a preliminary name. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the 26 Chinese children with SES studied, the authors used clinical, anatomic and biomechanical bases for deriving this nomenclature. The similarity between transient synovitis and SES is discussed.