Arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement: minimum five-year follow-up.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of an arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement at a minimum of a five-year follow-up.
Methods: A case series with 24 subjects (26 hips) was conducted. Subjects that were submitted to an arthroscopic procedure for the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement, at a minimum of five years, were evaluated. Subjects completed the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), the pain numeric rating scale and a general questionnaire accessing sports practice and satisfaction.
Results: Twenty-one of the 24 subjects (87.5%) were male and the average age at the time of surgery was 34.6 ± 9.5 years old (range 13-51). Of the 27 subjects submitted to hip arthroscopy, three (11.1%) could not be contacted. Follow-up was 6.1 ± 0.8 years, and at this time the average mHHS was 90.6 ± 11.6. Pain numeric rating scale was 2.6 ± 1.9 and 11 hips (42.3%) reported no pain. Of the 14 subjects that complained of hip pain during sports activities prior to surgery, 10 (71.4%) returned to normal sports activities while four (28.6%) subjects could not return to preoperative activities. Three patients had to be submitted to a new surgical procedure. All 24 subjects were satisfied with their procedure and would repeat it if necessary.
Conclusions: Arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement, at five years follow-up, revealed good results in terms of improved function, pain relief and satisfaction.