Earlier today I had a video consult with a 28 year old powerlifter with femoroacetabular impingement copmaining of hip pain while squatting, and atrophy of the glute medius region. This athlete had consulted with numerous surgeons and rehab specialists trying to figure out how to address his impingement with and without surgery.  As the athlete noted, some surgeons he spoke with had a good grasp of what his options were and possible outcomes, while some had no idea and offered completely outdated information.

I sent him the following literature to highlight some of the more current research on possibly dodging a total hip replacement.  As stated, there are no guarantees and every case is different, but some of the facts are very much in his favor.

“Attached is research on patients whom have an arthritic hip and had arthroscopic surgery.  The study tracks incidents of total hip arthroplasty post-arthroscopic debridement.  Out of 564 patients in the sample, only 16% (90 patients) eventually required THA over the 7-year period.  The mean age for the subjects was 55 years old.

To me, this gives high hopes for a younger athlete like yourself whom wants to avoid having total hip replacement and wishes to compete at a high level.  I think the most enlightening information from this study was “75% of the patients with severe OA did not require THA by the end of the study.”¹

Obviously there are lots of variables for each patient, but with a great surgeon and rehab specialist you should mitigate a ton of your long term risks.”

The incidence of total hip arthroplasty after hip arthroscopy in osteoarthritic patients

1.         Haviv B, O’Donnell J. The incidence of total hip arthroplasty after hip arthroscopy in osteoarthritic patients. Sports Med Arthrosc Rehabil Ther Technol SMARTT. 2010;2:18. doi:10.1186/1758-2555-2-18.