Surgical Treatment of Femoroacetabular Impingement: Minimum 10-Year Outcome and Risk Factors for Failure

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a well-known cause of hip pain and dysfunction in young adults. Surgical treatment has been widely popularized during the past decade. However, most reported results have been limited to short-term and intermediate-term follow-up. The long-term success rate and risk factors for failure are largely unknown. This study aimed to report the long-term (minimum, 10 years) clinical outcomes of surgical treatment of FAI and to describe the clinical and radiographic parameters associated with the failure of treatment involving femoroacetabular osteoplasty (FAO) and labral repair.

Using our prospective hip preservation database, 164 patients (178 hips) who had undergone FAO between January 2005 and April 2009 were identified. Patient demographic characteristics, clinical history, duration of preoperative symptoms, radiographic parameters (preoperative and postoperative alpha angles, hip dysplasia and retroversion, Tönnis grade for osteoarthritis), and intraoperative findings were reviewed and compared between the success and failure groups. At a minimum 10-year follow-up, clinical functional outcomes (modified Harris hip score [mHHS] and Short Form-36 [SF-36] at 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 10 years) and failure rates (conversion to total hip arthroplasty [THA]) were collected.

The mean patient age (and standard deviation) was 34.3 ± 8.4 years, and 65 patients (40%) were female. After the surgical procedure, there was significant improvement in the mean mHHS (59.3 ± 7.3 points preoperatively to 88.4 ± 7.3 points postoperatively) and the mean SF-36 (61.3 ± 8.4 points preoperatively to 89.1 ± 7.2 points postoperatively). At a mean follow-up of 12.5 years, 12% (22 hips) required conversion to THA, with a mean time to THA of 5.3 ± 2.0 years. Older age, longer preoperative symptomatic period, higher preoperative and postoperative alpha angles, presence of hip dysplasia, a higher Tönnis grade, joint space narrowing, and a full-thickness acetabular chondral lesion at the time of the FAO were identified as risk factors for failure and conversion to THA.

Patients with symptomatic FAI who undergo a surgical procedure experience pain relief and functional improvement that appear to endure over a decade in the majority of patients. This study on a relatively large cohort with a long-term follow-up has also identified patients who are at a higher risk for treatment failure.

Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.