PURPOSE OF THE STUDY To present clinical and radiographic findings of iliopectineal bursitis and draw attention to some related etiopathogenetic factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS Six patients followed up between 2005 and 2007 were evaluated. They included four women and two men (average age, 58 years; range, 35 to 80 years) who presented with a tender mass in the hip region (four right and two left sides). Each patient underwent an examination involving a clinical check-up, imaging methods (CT, MR, angio-CT) and standard laboratory tests. RESULTS Iliopectineal bursitis clinically manifested as a tender mass in the groin and hip region in five patients; in one it was pulsating. The sixth case was asymptomatic. In three patients iliopectineal bursitis was found in association with steroid therapy and subsequent avascular necrosis of the femoral head and chronic synovitis. It followed tularemia with hip joint involvement in one patient, salmonella arthritis in one, and kidney transplant rejection in one. Also, iliopectineal bursitis was diagnosed in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis treated with steroids, but without femoral head avascular necrosis, and was incidentally found in another patient examined for digestive problems. Of the six cases of swollen bursa detected by the imaging methods used, five were found to communicate with the hip joint cavity, with four being so large that the bursa extended into the retroperitoneum. Two patients underwent excision or resection of the bursa; in addition, one of them had revitalizing graft surgery for femoral head necrosis. The patient with salmonella arthritis had to undergo a Girdlestone procedure. One patient was treated by draining of the bursa and, after inflammation resolved, total hip replacement surgery was carried out during which the iliopectineal bursa was removed. The patient with rheumatoid arthritis was treated by bursa draining and refused further surgical therapy (total hip replacement). DISCUSSION In our group of six patients, bursitis was symptomatic in five and was associated with chronic hip synovitis accompanying femoral head necrosis following steroid therapy or inflamation, either non-specific or arthitic. Bursitis was asymptomatic in one patient and was diagnosed only incidentally on CT examination done for another reason. The communication between the bursa and the hip joint cavity, found on CT scans and magnetic resonance images, was a radiographic factor important for differential diagnosis. The underlying disease of the hip joint plays a key role in the etiopathogenesis of iliopectineal bursitis. Therefore, surgical treatment should be comprehensible and, in addition to bursa resection or excision, should also include treatment of the affected joint (alloplasty, femoral head resection or revitalization). CONCLUSION Iliopectineal bursitis is associated with chronic hip synovitis present in degenerative, infectious or rheumatic joint diseases. When a lump is diagnosed in the inguinal or hip region, iliopectineal bursitis should always be considered in addition to conditions such as abscess, cyst, hernia, pseudoaneurysm, lymphocele, etc. The finding of communication beteen the bursa and hip joint cavity, made on CT scans or magnetic resonance images, is a radiographic factor important in terms of differential diagnosis. The surgical treatment of iliopectineal bursitis includes excision or resection of the bursa and therapy for the hip joint (alloplasty, femoral head resection or revitalization).