Outcomes of hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement: The effect of morphological type and chondrolabral damage

Introduction: Hip arthroscopy for treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) has shown significant pain and functional improvement. However, the differential outcome of each of the FAI morphological types in contrast to one another remains largely unknown. This study was conducted to detect a possible difference in outcome among different FAI types treated using hip arthroscopy. Methods: In this prospective non randomized comparative study, after exclusion of non-FAI cases and cases with advanced arthritic changes, 90 hips in 85 patients that had hip arthroscopy for the treatment of FAI between 2011 and 2015 in our center were analyzed. The collected patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) included visual analog scale (VAS) of pain, the modified Harris hip score (mHHS), and the non arthritic hip score (NAHS) both preoperatively and at final follow-up. Patient satisfaction was collected at final follow-up. Postoperative PROMs were subjected to three main comparisons based on each of FAI type, labral procedure, and extent of cartilage damage. Repeat comparison based on FAI type after matching of exact chondrolabral condition was also attempted. Results: Mean follow-up was 32.8 months (five patients lost from follow-up). There was a significant improvement in the overall PROMs. This improvement was significantly higher in the cam group in contrast to the mixed group. After matching for chondrolabral condition, this difference was consistent and more evident. Discussion: The outcome of arthroscopic treatment of pure cam FAI is significantly better than that of mixed FAI. Matching of the same chondrolabral condition and repeating the comparison yields similar results.