Abstract
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a clinical syndrome resulting from abnormal hip joint morphology and is a common cause of hip pain in young adults. FAI has been posited as a precursor to hip osteoarthritis (OA); however, conflicting evidence exists and the true natural history of the disease is unclear. The purpose of this article is to review the current understanding of how FAI damages the hip joint by highlighting its pathomechanics and etiology. We then review the current evidence relating FAI to OA. Lastly, we will discuss the potential of hip preservation surgery to alter the natural history of FAI, reduce the risk of developing OA and the need for future arthroplasty.
Highlights
The Natural History of Femoroacetabular impingementFemoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a clinical syndrome resulting from abnormal hip joint morphology and is a common cause of hip pain in young adults
The management of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a rapidly developing field in orthopedics
Described by Ganz in 2003, FAI is a pathologic condition resulting from abnormal acetabular and femoral head/neck morphology that has been implicated as a precursor to secondary osteoarthritis (OA) [1,2,3]
Summary
Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a clinical syndrome resulting from abnormal hip joint morphology and is a common cause of hip pain in young adults. FAI has been posited as a precursor to hip osteoarthritis (OA); conflicting evidence exists and the true natural history of the disease is unclear. The purpose of this article is to review the current understanding of how FAI damages the hip joint by highlighting its pathomechanics and etiology. We review the current evidence relating FAI to OA. We will discuss the potential of hip preservation surgery to alter the natural history of FAI, reduce the risk of developing OA and the need for future arthroplasty. Specialty section: This article was submitted to Orthopedic Surgery, a section of the journal
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