Dynamic Assessment of Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome Hips

The purpose of our study was to compare lower extremity rotational kinematics and kinetics (angles, torques, and powers) and hip muscle electromyography (EMG) activity between cam-type femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) and age- and sex-matched controls during walking, fast walking, stair ascent, stair descent, and sit-to-stand.

This study included 10 males with unilateral FAIS and 10 control males with no FAIS. We measured kinematics, kinetics, and electromyographic signals during stair ascent/descent, sit-to-stand, self-selected walk, and fast walk. Peak signal differences between groups were compared with independent t-tests with statistical significance when P < .05.

FAIS hips showed significant differences compared to controls, including increased hip flexion during walking (+4.9°, P = .048) and stair ascent (+7.8°, P =.003); diminished trunk rotation during stair ascent (-3.4°; P = .015), increased knee flexion during self-selected walking (+5.1°, P = .009), stair ascent (+7.4°, P = .001), and descent (+5.3°, P = .038); and increased knee valgus during fast walking (+4.7°, P = .038). gMed and MedHam showed significantly decreased activation in FAIS during walking (gMed: -12.9%, P = .002; MedHam: -7.4%, P = .028) and stair ascent (gMed: -16.7%, P = .036; MedHam: -13.0%, P = .041); decreased gMed activation during sit-to-stand (-8.8%, P = .004) and decreased MedHam activation during stair descent (-8.0%, P = .039).

Three-dimensional motion analysis and EMG evaluation of functional kinematics and kinetics in subjects with symptomatic unilateral cam-type FAIS across a spectrum of provocative tasks demonstrated significant differences compared to controls in hip flexion, trunk rotation, knee flexion, and valgus. FAIS hips had significantly decreased gMed and MedHam activity. These findings may explain altered torso-pelvic, hip, and knee mechanics in FAIS patients and suggest that evaluation of FAIS should include the patient's hip, knee, and torso-pelvic relationships and muscle function.

The clinical and functional manifestation of FAIS hip pathomechanics is not entirely understood, and previous literature to date has not clearly described the alterations in gait and functional movements seen in patients with cam-type FAIS. The current study used 3D motion analysis and EMG evaluation of functional kinematics and kinetics to identify a number of differences between FAIS and control hips, which help us better understand the lower extremity kinematics and kinetics and muscle activation in FAIS.