Femoroacetabular impingement has been established as an important cause of groin pain and limitation of range of motion in
young, active patients and a possible cause for early osteoarthritis of the hip. Open surgery is a well-recognized approach
for treatment and probably the standard for most surgeons, but recent reports regarding arthroscopic treatment procedures
suggest comparable results. We present a technique that provides a way to securely penetrate the joint capsule and evaluate
the clinical results of this technique in patients with femoroacetabular impingement. Between 2004 and 2007, we prospectively
followed a cohort of 105 hips (88 patients; 60 males, 28 females) who underwent surgery for symptomatic cam or mixed femoroacetabular
impingement. All patients were evaluated for the Nonarthritic Hip Score, clinical parameters, visual analog scale pain score,
initial radiographic degenerative changes, and alpha angle. At a minimum followup of 1.3 years (average, 2.3 years; range,
1.3–4.1 years), all clinical outcome measures improved. The Nonarthritic Hip Score improved from 56.7 points (range, 15–92.5
points) to 84.6 points (range, 47.5–100 points). Nine patients (8.6%) underwent THA during followup. The outcome measures
after arthroscopic therapy for femoroacetabular impingement seem comparable to those reported after open procedures.
Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest,
patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations
were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study
was obtained.