A new study sheds light on the question of the effectiveness of surgical and conservative treatment in athletes with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome. Return to sport in such patients is a multifactorial matter, since account must always be taken of the type of sporting activity, the level of the athlete (professional or recreational), the level of activity to which that particular athlete returned, and the specific pathological lesions present in the hip.
Conservative treatment remains the first line of treatment in such patients, and a proportion of these athletes can ultimately be managed with it. A large proportion of athletes with severe anatomical abnormalities of the femoroacetabular impingement type, however, or with associated lesions such as a labral tear or a tear of the articular cartilage, unfortunately cannot be managed conservatively, and these patients resort to arthroscopic treatment.
This study showed that athletes with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome who were treated by conservative methods had a low rate of return to sport. Surgical treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, including hip arthroscopy, was shown to give a high rate of return to sport, of 87 to 93% overall. The rate of return to the same level of sporting activity, in highly competitive sport, ranges from 55 to 83%.
Overall, it was shown that surgical treatment gives high rates of return to sport, and also of functional performance in athletes.
Source: Current Review of Musculoskeletal Medicine, March 2020