The Horsens-Aarhus Femoro Acetabular Impingement (HAFAI) cohort: outcome of arthroscopic treatment for femoroacetabular impingement. Protocol for a prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION: During the past decade, it has become increasingly more common to offer hip arthroscopic surgery when treating people with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Nevertheless, the latest reviews conclude that it still remains to be properly investigated how surgery affects the patients. Specifically, detailed information on the functional, muscular and mechanical impact of surgery in larger groups is lacking. Furthermore, the long-term outcome of the surgery is still to be investigated. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this prospective cohort study, a total of 60 patients with FAI scheduled for arthroscopic surgery will be followed and tested preoperatively, and again after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Assessment includes isokinetic dynamometry evaluating hip flexion and extension; evaluation of functional capacity in a three-dimensional motion laboratory; pain assessment; self-reported function, quality of life, expectation and satisfaction with the surgery; recording of previous and present sporting activities and accelerometry. In addition, data on surgical procedure, rehabilitation progress, adverse events and failure will be recorded. Patients will be compared with an age-matched and gender-matched reference group of 30 persons with no hip, knee, ankle or back problems. Long-term follow-up of this cohort may evaluate possible reoperations and development of hip osteoarthritis. Furthermore, analysis on how subgroups respond to the treatment could be performed together with identification of possible “non-responders”. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study is approved by the Central Denmark Region Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics (Journal No 1-10-72-239-14). The results from this study will be presented at national and international congresses and published in peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02306525.