Relationship between the Depth of Acetabuloplasty and Outcomes of Hip Arthroscopy in Patients with Global Pincer Femoroacetabular Impingement: Study with a Minimum Follow‐Up Period of 2 Years

OBJECTIVE: There has been no definite consensus on the ideal depth of acetabuloplasty, especially in cases of global pincer femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). This study aims to determine whether the depth of acetabuloplasty influences postoperative outcomes in cases of global pincer FAI. METHODS: Data were retrospectively collected from patients with global pincer FAI who underwent hip arthroscopy with a minimum follow‐up period of 2 years from May 2014 to December 2018. Patients with global pincer FAI were subdivided into low or high resection depth groups based on whether the intraoperative acetabular rim was resected by more than 3 mm. Radiographic measurements; arthroscopic procedures; preoperative and postoperative PROs were recorded. Achievement of MCID and PASS was compared for the VAS, mHHS, HOS‐ADL, and iHOT‐12. A paired Student t‐test was used to evaluate the significance of preoperative and postoperative PROs and two‐tailed unpaired Student t‐test was used to compare demographic data and PROs between different groups. MCID and PASS were evaluated using the chi‐square test or the Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: A total of 41 hips with global pincer FAI (15 and 26 patients in low or high resection depth groups, respectively) were included in this study. Both groups showed significant postoperative improvements in the scores of all PROs (p < 0.001). Compared to the low resection depth group, the high resection depth group had a lower degree of improvement through hip arthroscopy, which manifested as lower postoperative mHHS scores (94.29 vs. 85.08, p = 0.006), higher VAS scores (0.93 vs. 2.54, p = 0.002), and lower improvements in VAS (−5.00 vs. −3.35, p = 0.028), HOS‐ADL (34.99 vs. 23.90, p = 0.017) and iHOT‐12 (39.89 vs. 29.27, p = 0.036). Patients in high resection depth group were less likely to achieve the MCID for the VAS score compared to low resection depth group in significant (73.3 vs. 26.9%, p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: For patients with global pincer, the outcomes in high resection depth group were slightly worse than the the low resection depth group. It is indicated that excessive resection of the acetabular rim during the procedure should be avoided.