Poster 212: Return to Sport Rate of Collegiate Athletes Following Primary Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement

Abstract

Objectives:

Athletic participation has been increasingly associated with symptomatic femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). High-intensity and repetitive sporting activities, especially those involving “at-risk” hip positions, can increase the risk for developing FAI. Numerous studies have shown that elite athletes can return to play at the professional level after undergoing hip arthroscopy. However, there is minimal data on return to sport rate and outcomes at the collegiate level. The purpose of this study is to determine the return to sport (RTS) rate of collegiate athletes following hip arthroscopy for treatment of FAI.

Methods:

Patients who were collegiate athletes and underwent hip arthroscopy surgery for treatment of FAI performed by a single surgeon between January 2010 and May 2020 were included. Patients who were in their final year of eligibility, graduated, retired or had plans to retire from collegiate play prior to surgery, or who had undergone prior ipsilateral hip surgery were excluded. Publicly available data was collected on each patient’s collegiate team and division, RTS status after surgery, and level of play after surgery. Successful RTS was defined as competing in a competition at the collegiate level after surgery. If both hips were operated on during the same season, then RTS was the same for both hips. Comparisons between RTS and no RTS groups were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test for continuous endpoints and Fisher’s exact test or Pearson’s Chi-squared test for categorical or binary endpoints.

Results:

A total of 181 hips (in 148 unique athletes) met inclusion criteria comprised of 114 male (63%) and 67 female (37%) hips with mean age of 20.5±1.5 (Table 1). Thirty-eight patients had bilateral hip arthroscopy. Patients were collegiate athletes in 19 different sports with football (17% of hips), soccer (15%), ice hockey (14%), and baseball (8%) the most commonly played (Table 2). The majority of patients played at the Division I level (n=140 hips, 79%). There were 19 patients with borderline dysplasia (lateral center-edge angle (LCEA)=20-25 degrees) and 7 patients with dysplastic hips (LCEA <20 degress). Severe cartilage defects (Outbridge III/IV) were found in 41 hips (23%) with 15 hips (8%) undergoing microfracture. Eighty-six percent (155 hips) returned to sport at the collegiate level following hip arthroscopy. Males were significantly less likely to RTS compared to females (82% vs 93%, OR = 2.8, 95% CI [1.003, 7.819], p=0.042). Patients who RTS did have a marginally statistically significantly higher mean pre-operative SF-12 MCS compared to those who did not (55±9 vs 51±9, p=0.050). There was no signficiant association between the RTS and no RTS groups with respect to preoperative alpha angle, minimum joint space, LCEA or dysplasia category, collegiate division, presence or treatment of severe cartilage defect, or pre-operative outcome scores relating primarily to pain or physical function (mHHS, HOS-ADL, HOS-Sport, SF-12 PCS) (p>0.05 for all).

Conclusions:

There is a high return to sport rate among collegiate athletes following hip arthroscopy for the treatment of FAI. Male athletes and those with lower preoperative SF-12 MCS scores may be at risk for lower likelihood of return to collegiate competition.