Non-operative Management and Outcomes of Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome

Femoroacetabular impingement - What the rheumatologist needs to know

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome is a common cause of hip and groin pain in young individuals. FAI syndrome is a triad of signs, symptoms, and imaging findings. Necessary but not sufficient for the diagnosis of FAI syndrome is the presence of cam and/or pincer morphology of the hip. However, pathological thresholds for cam and pincer morphologies are not well-established. Management of FAI syndrome is typically through either physiotherapist-led therapy or surgical intervention. Physiotherapist-led management involves exercises aimed to optimise movement patterns of the hip and pelvis to prevent impingement from occurring, activity modification and analgesia, whereas surgical management involves arthroscopic resection of the cam/pincer morphology and treatment of concomitant soft tissue pathologies such as labral tears, cartilage lesions or ligamentum teres tears. Careful consideration of intervention is required given that FAI syndrome may predispose those affected to developing future osteoarthritis of the hip. In most clinical trials, hip arthroscopy has been found to provide greater improvement in patient-reported outcomes in the short-term compared to physiotherapy, however it is unknown whether this is sustained in the long-term or affects the future development of hip osteoarthritis.

Orthobiologics as an adjunct in treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome: cell-based therapies facilitate improved postoperative outcomes in the setting of acetabular chondral lesions-a systematic review

PURPOSE

To evaluate studies utilizing orthobiologics in the management of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) to (1) assess the indications for usage, and (2) analyze patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) following treatment. It was hypothesized that orthobiologics would (1) be utilized for symptomatic FAIS in the setting of labral or chondral pathology, and (2) improve PROM at most recent follow-up.

METHODS

The Pubmed, Ovid Medline, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases were searched for clinical studies evaluating orthobiologics [hyaluronic acid (HA), platelet-rich plasma (PRP), or cell-based therapy (CBT) for treatment of FAIS. Exclusion criteria included orthobiologics used in conjunction with cartilage transfer or scaffolding procedures and a primary indication other than FAIS. Data collection included patient demographics, indications, and baseline and most recent PROM.

RESULTS

Eleven studies (one level I, four level II, four level III, and two level IV evidence) met inclusion criteria, consisting of 440 patients with mean ages ranging from 32.8 to 47 years. All 11 studies demonstrated an improvement in PROM from baseline to most-recent follow-up. Four studies administered PRP either intraoperatively or the day after surgery as an adjunct to labral repair. CBT was used intraoperatively in the setting of acetabular chondral lesions (three studies) and labral repair (one study). When comparing to a control group at most recent follow-up, three PRP cohorts demonstrated similar PROM (n.s.), while one PRP group exhibited worse visual analog pain scores (2.5 vs. 3.4, p = 0.005) and modified Harris Hip Scores (mHHS) (82.6 vs. 78.7, p = 0.049). The four CBT studies reported favorable results compared to a control group, with a significantly higher mHHS at most recent follow-up or mean improvement from baseline in Hip Outcome Score-Activities of Daily Living (p < 0.05). Three studies reported on HA, which was utilized exclusively in the nonoperative setting.

CONCLUSIONS

Intraoperative PRP and CBT have been commonly reported in the setting of hip arthroscopy for labral repairs and acetabular chondral lesions, respectively. The CBT cohorts demonstrated more favorable PROM at most recent follow-up when compared to a control group, though these results should be interpreted with caution due to heterogeneity of orthobiologic preparations.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.