Surgery for treating hip impingement (femoroacetabular impingement)

Surgery is sometimes recommended for femoroacetabular impingement where non-operative interventions have failed.

To determine the benefits and safety of surgery for femoroacetabular impingement.

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2013, Issue 11); MEDLINE (Ovid) (1946 to 19 November 2013); and EMBASE (Ovid) (1980 to 19 November 2013) for studies, unrestricted by language.

Randomised and quasi-randomised clinical trials assessing surgical intervention compared with placebo treatment, non-operative treatment or no treatment in adults with femoroacetabular impingement.

Two authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed risk of bias and extracted data.

There were no studies that met the inclusion criteria, with 11 studies that were excluded following detailed review. There were four ongoing studies identified that may meet the inclusion criteria when they are completed; the results from these ongoing studies may begin to become available within the next five years. Three of the four ongoing studies are comparing hip arthroscopy versus non-operative care. The fourth study is comparing hip arthroscopy versus a sham arthroscopic hip procedure. All of the ongoing studies are recording at least one of our preferred clinical outcome measures for benefit and safety.

There is no high quality evidence examining the effectiveness of surgery for femoroacetabular impingement. There are four ongoing studies, which may provide evidence for the benefit and safety of this type of surgery in the future.