The hips of dancers constitute a special category of joints, both in terms of certain anatomical characteristics, chief among them their great elasticity and suppleness, and in terms of the functional features of this particular activity, which can potentially give rise to a pathological syndrome.
A new study of dancers who underwent hip arthroscopy demonstrated the preoperative anatomy, the postoperative outcomes and the rates of return to dance in high-level athletes.
The characteristics of high-level dancers who underwent hip arthroscopy between 2008 and 2016 were analysed. The specific types of dance, the morphology and the radiographic features of their hips were recorded. Specific rating scales were used to assess the postoperative outcomes.
In total, 63 high-level dancers (77 hips) with a mean age of 21.2 years were studied. The particular types of dance included in this study were 57 of the studio dance type, 47 of the high-kick dance type and 28 were purely at professional level. Cam-type femoroacetabular impingement morphology was present in 95%, pincer-type morphology in 40%, subspine impingement morphology (anterior inferior iliac spine impingement) in 83% and borderline dysplasia in 11%. The techniques performed were repair of the labrum in 95% of cases, partial excision of the labrum in 5%, femoral osteoplasty in 99%, acetabular osteoplasty in 49%, subspine decompression in 88%, and capsular plication in 66%. These patients were followed up for a mean period of 36 months.
All the clinical scores were improved postoperatively and 63% of the dancers returned to their previous level of dance activity, 21% returned to a restricted or modified dance activity, while 16% were unable to return to that activity.
The authors concluded that a careful arthroscopic approach in these patients, addressing femoroacetabular impingement, subspine impingement and hyperlaxity of the hip capsule, can achieve a return to activity and offer good to excellent results over a mean period of three years. In total, 84% of the dancers returned to dance activity, although only 63% returned to their previous level of dance activity.
Source: “Arthroscopy”, 2020