Arthroscopic Management of Femoroacetabular Impingement in Early Osteoarthritis of the Hip: 2 to 5 Year Results

Abstract

Purpose: To report the clinical and radiological outcomes of a mid-term follow-up of patients with femoroacetabular impingement treated using an arthroscopic method. Materials and Methods: Of the patients who underwent an arthroscopic labrectomy (91 cases), femoroplasty (82 cases) or acetabuloplasty (9 cases) after a diagnosis of femoroacetabular impingement, 82 patients (91 cases) who had been followed up were examined. The preoperative and postoperative clinical outcomes were evaluated using the Modified Harris hip score, Hip Outcome Score, pain score and patient's satisfaction. The radiological assessment was performed by measuring the alpha angle, femoral offset, and center edge angle using simple radiographs and computed tomography. Results: The patients consisted of 63 men and 19 women, whose mean age was 33.5 years (range, 15-70 years). The mean follow-up period was 42.2 months (range, 25-60 months). On the clinical results, the mean pain score improved from 0.72 points preoperatively to 2.02 points at the final follow-up. The Modified Harris hip score improved from 61.4 preoperatively to 83.4 at the final follow-up. The median patient satisfaction was 8.2 (range,0-10 points). On the radiological assessment, the alpha angle decreased from to , and the femoral offset recovered from 4.9 mm to 10.0 mm. Conclusion: The arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement could be an excellent modality to prevent osteoarthritis of the hip. However, recovery of clinical results by arthroscopic treatment is not expected in elderly patients or those with developed osteoarthritis, a low preoperative Modified Harris hip score and concurrent degenerative disease.