Ten-Year Survivorship, Outcomes, and Sports Participation in Athletes After Primary Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome

Background: Hip arthroscopy is an effective treatment tool for athletes with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome. However, long-term data are scarce. Purpose: To assess survivorship, minimum 10-year patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and sports participation after primary hip arthroscopy for FAI syndrome in athletes and to perform a propensity-matched comparison between patients undergoing labral debridement and labral repair. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: Athletes who underwent hip arthroscopy for FAI syndrome between February 2008 and December 2010 were eligible. Exclusion criteria were other ipsilateral hip condition, Tönnis grade ≥2, or no baseline PROMs. Survivorship was defined as no conversion to total hip arthroplasty. The Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS), minimal clinically important difference (MCID), maximum outcome improvement (MOI) satisfaction threshold, and sports participation were reported. A propensity-matched comparison between labral debridement and labral repair was performed. Two additional propensity-matched subanalyses were performed for capsular management and cartilage damage. Results: In total, 189 hips (177 patients) were included. The mean ± SD follow-up was 127.2 ± 6.0 months. Survivorship was 85.7%. Significant improvement in all PROMs was reported (P < .001). A total of 46 athletes with labral repair were propensity matched to 46 athletes with labral debridement. This subanalysis demonstrated significant and comparable improvement in all PROMs at minimum 10-year follow-up (P < .001). For the labral repair group, the PASS achievement rates were 88.9% for the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) and 80% for the Hip Outcome Score–Sport Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS); the MCID achievement rates were 80.6% for the mHHS and 84% for HOS-SSS; and for the MOI satisfaction threshold, rates were 77.8%, 80.6%, and 55.6% for the mHHS, Nonarthritic Hip Score, and visual analog scale, respectively. For the labral debridement group, the PASS achievement rates were 85.3% for the mHHS and 70.4% for the HOS-SSS; the MCID achievement rates were 81.8% for the mHHS and 74.1% for HOS-SSS; and for the MOI satisfaction threshold, rates were 72.7%, 81.8%, and 66.7% for the mHHS, Nonarthritic Hip Score, and visual analog scale. Total hip arthroplasty conversions occurred significantly sooner with labral debridement than labral repair (P = .048). Age was identified as a significant predictor of achieving the PASS. Conclusion: Primary hip arthroscopy for FAI syndrome in athletes results in 85.7% survivorship and sustained PROM improvement at a minimum 10-year follow-up. A significant time delay to total hip arthroplasty conversion at 10-year follow-up was reported with labral repair over debridement, although this should be interpreted with caution, as the total number of conversions was small.