Reliability of the Arthroscopic Classifications of Hip Chondral Lesions

Objective To evaluate the inter- and intraobserver reliability of the Outerbridge, Beck, and Haddad classifications for acetabular joint cartilage lesions through the arthroscopic procedure. Methods A total of 60 hip arthroscopy videos were evaluated twice by 4 surgeons at 2 different times to assess the inter- and intraobserver reproducibility of the classifications, and the data was analyzed by means of the weighted Cohen Kappa index. Results The mean weighted Kappa values in the interobserver assessment of the Outerbridge, Beck, and Haddad classifications were, respectively, 0.72, 0.78, and 0.68. The three classifications were considered as presenting good interobserver agreement. Regarding the intraobserver assessment of the Outerbridge, Beck, and Haddad classifications, the weighted Kappa values were, respectively, 0.9, 0.9, and 0.93. The three classifications were considered as presenting excellent intraobserver agreement. Conclusion In the present series, the Outerbridge, Beck, and Haddad classifications presented good interobserver reproducibility and excellent intraobserver reproducibility when evaluating acetabular chondral lesions by the arthroscopic approach.