Do the outcomes of hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement change over time?

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to search for changes in functional outcomes of patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) between short and medium-term follow-up. Secondary aims included reporting rates of revision surgery and total hip arthroplasty (THA) at medium-term follow-up.

HYPOTHESIS

We hypothesised that patients' functional outcomes would improve between short and medium-term follow-up.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Consecutive patients undergoing hip arthroscopy with a diagnosis of femoroacetabular impingement with labral tears between February 2013 and June 2015 were included. Twelve item international hip outcome tool (iHOT-12) and EuroQol 5D-5L (EQ-5D) scores were collected preoperatively, at short-term and medium-term follow-up. Short-term scores were recorded at a minimum of one year postoperatively and medium-term scores at a minimum of five years postoperatively. Survivorship was assessed with Kaplan-Meier analysis.

RESULTS

Short-term outcome data (at median follow-up 1.6 year, Interquartile range [IQR] 1-2.5) was available for 70 of 87 patients (80.5%) and medium-term outcome data (at median follow-up of 6.5 years, IQR 6-7.1) was available for 68 patients (78.2%). Median age at the time of surgery was 31 years (IQR 25-37). The median iHOT-12 scores at short and medium-term follow-up were 72 (IQR 48.75-91.25) and 85.8 (IQR 66.7-96.7) respectively (p<0.001). Medium-term survivorship was 91.2%. Survivorship following labral repair was 94.2%, and 81.3% following labral debridement (p=0.09).

DISCUSSION

Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for FAI reported continued improvement in iHOT-12 scores between short and medium-term follow-up. Medium-term survivorship following FAI surgery may be greater when the labrum is repaired, although comparisons are limited by their differing indications. Conversion to THA was low with just 4 patients (4.6%) undergoing or being listed for THA at final follow-up.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV, Case series.