[Influence of surgeon's dominant versus nondominant hand manipulation on hip arthroscopy]

This study aimed to investigate surgeons' subjective perceptions of handedness effects on hip arthroscopy through questionnaire surveys, and to evaluate the objective outcomes of handedness effects by retrospective research. The questionnaire targeted hip joint surgeons from the Chinese Society of Sports Medicine, while the clinical review analyzed 175 consecutive hip arthroscopy procedures (from January 2019 tp December 2021) performed by a single right-handed surgeon at Shandong University Second Hospital. Of the patients, there were 83 males and 92 females with a mean age of (38.0±13.0) years. The patients were divided into dominant-hand (n=86) and non-dominant-hand (n=89) groups for comparison of operative parameters and outcomes. The survey (159 participants with a response rate of 100%) revealed that 82.39% (131/159) perceived superior proficiency with dominant hand, 61.64% (98/159) of the surgeons believed that the dominant hand for operation could yield better early results, while 50.94% (81/159) reported equivalent long-term results. Clinical data demonstrated superior median fluency scores [4.0(4.0, 5.0) vs 3.0(3.0, 4.0), P<0.001] and shorter operation time [(95.4±15.6) vs (111.4±19.6) minutes, P<0.001] in dominant-hand procedures. However, no significant difference was found in surgical accuracy or 1-year postoperative outcomes between the two groups (all P>0.05). The findings indicate that while surgeons' non-dominant hand use may compromise surgical fluency and operation time, it does not significantly affect surgical accuracy or clinical outcomes.