PRE-OPERATIVE LOW BACK PAIN NEGATIVELY AFFECTS SELF-REPORTED FUNCTION IN INDIVIDUALS UNDERGOING HIP ARTHROSCOPY

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Sports Medicine
• Pain Management

Background:

• Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent issue in adults and frequently co-occurs with hip pathology.
• Persistent LBP post-hip arthroplasty correlates with reduced function, but its impact before hip arthroscopy for FAI remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if pre-operative low back pain influences functional outcome improvements after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).
• To compare self-reported hip function changes between patients with and without pre-operative LBP undergoing FAI surgery.

Main Methods:

• A cohort study involving 318 patients undergoing primary hip arthroscopy for FAI.
• 156 patients completed the International Hip Outcomes Tool (iHOT-33) and Hip Outcome Score Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL) pre-operatively and at 6 and 12 months post-surgery.
• Patients were stratified into groups based on the presence or absence of pre-operative LBP; repeated measures ANOVA was used for analysis.

Main Results:

• 48.1% of patients reported pre-operative LBP.
• Both groups showed significant improvements in hip function over time (p<0.001).
• Patients with pre-operative LBP reported significantly lower iHOT-33 scores at 12 months compared to those without LBP (p=0.043), but no significant difference was observed for HOS-ADL scores (p=0.088).

Conclusions:

• Hip arthroscopy for FAI leads to improved self-reported hip function, irrespective of pre-operative low back pain.
• Pre-existing low back pain is associated with poorer patient-reported hip function outcomes (iHOT-33) up to 12 months post-arthroscopy for FAI.