Location of Hip Pain

To the Editor.— In the QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS section (241:2314, 1979) there appeared the question titled Periodic Disabling Hip Pain in a Woman: Differential Diagnosis. Neither the consultant nor the questioner described the location of the pain. It is most important to point out that is an ambiguous statement. The proper procedure would be to indicate pain in the buttocks, in the groin, or in the lateral aspect of the hip. The anatomic distribution of the sensory supply to the hip joint is approximately 65% from the obturator nerve; therefore, pain in this area will refer to the groin and the medial aspect of the thigh and, indeed, the medial aspect of the knee. Approximately 30% is represented from the femoral nerve, and that would refer to the anterior portion of the thigh. Approximately only 5% of the sensory innervation of the hip joint itself is by a branch