[Clinical efficacy of the "double-strand inverted V-shape" suture under hip arthroscopy in acetabular labral...

Objective: To compare the efficacy of the "double-strand inverted V-shape" vs the "single-strand looped" suture techniques to treat acetabular labral injuries under hip arthroscopy. Methods: In this study, clinical data of patients diagnosed with femoroacetabular impingement admitted to the Department of Sports Medicine, Orthopedic Medicine Division, the Chinese PLA General Hospital from June 2018 to July 2022 were collected and analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into the "double-strand inverted V-shape" (double-strand) and the "single-strand looped" (single-strand) groups based on the surgical suture method for the injured labrum. The two groups were compared in terms of the labral injury extent, number and cost of anchors, and preoperative and postoperative outcomes using the visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, modified Harris Hip score (mHHS), and International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-12) scores. Results: Fifty-eight patients were included, with 30 in the double-strand group, 20 males and 10 females, aged (37.8±10.2) years, and 28 in the single-strand group, 18 males and 10 females, aged (39.3±12.6) years. All patients underwent surgery successfully, and the patients in the double-strand group and single-strand group were followed-up for [M(Q₁, Q₃)] [36.0(24.0, 36.0) and 30.0(24.0, 36.0) months, respectively. The extent of labral injury 3.5 (3.0, 4.0) vs 2.0 (1.5, 2.4) h], the number of anchors [4.0 (4.0, 4.3) vs 3.0 (3.0, 4.0) pins], and the cost of the anchors [7 084 (6 916, 8 603) vs 5 061 (5 061, 6 748) yuan] in the double-strand group were all higher than those of the single-strand group (all P<0.001), but the number of anchors/injury extent [1.2 (1.1, 1.3) vs. 1.5 (1.5, 2.0) pins/h] and anchor cost/injury extent[2 092 (1 949, 2 305) vs. 2 531 (2 531, 3 374) yuan/h] were lower (both P<0.001). There was no statistical significance in the differences of preoperative and postoperative VAS, mHHS, and iHOT scores between the double-strand group and the single-strand group, as well as in the differences of the changes in VAS, mHHS, and iHOT scores before and after surgery (all P>0.05). Conclusion: The "double-strand inverted V-shape" suture technique for acetabular labral injuries under hip arthroscopy can achieve clinical outcomes similar to the "single-strand looped" suture technique while reducing anchor use and costs under same injury extent, and providing better economic benefits.