Return to Sports in a General Hip Arthroscopy Cohort: Minimum Two-Year Follow-Up

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have assessed elite athletes’ level of return to sport, but few have investigated a general hip arthroscopy cohort. The study purpose was to compare patient-reported outcomes (PRO) scores and ability to perform sports-related movements between a group of patients that returned to sport (RTS) and a group that did not return to sports (NRTS). METHODS: Between September 2008 and April 2012, 1343 patients underwent hip arthroscopy, of which, 157 patients (168 hips) reported playing a sport before surgery and also indicated their postoperative involvement in sports. Of these, 148 patients (158 hips, 94%) had two-year follow-up. Four PROs were used. The Hip Outcome Score - Sports Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS) was the primary measure to assess return to sports and ability to perform sport-related movements. RESULTS: In the overall cohort of 148 amateur and professional athletes (158 hips) who underwent hip arthroscopies, 25 (17%) did not return to sports due to hip-related issues. An additional 32 patients (22%) did not return to sports due to non-hip-related issues, while three patients did not return sports for unidentified reasons. These 60 patients (65 hips) were considered the NRTS group. The remaining 88 patients (93 hips) were defined as the RTS group. Average ages for the RTS and NRTS groups were 30.7 and 30.4 years, respectively. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements from preoperative to postoperative scores based on all PRO measures. While there was no significant difference between groups for HOS-SSS scores preoperatively, the RTS group had significantly higher HOS-SSS scores at one year and two years post-surgery. Postoperatively, patients in the RTS group had significantly better ability to: run one mile, jump, land from a jump, stop quickly and perform cutting/lateral movements (p<0.05). Patients with HOS-SSS>20 at two years post-surgery were 2.3 times as likely to return to sport as those with HOS-SSS < 20. CONCLUSION: In a mixed group of hip arthroscopy athletes, 84% returned to sport or discontinued participation due to non-hip related issues. Patients who returned to sport demonstrated significantly higher HOS-SSS scores and abilities to perform several sport-related movements. movements.