Surgical dislocation of the hip for the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement

Surgical dislocation of the hip is a safe and established technique for treating femoroacetabular impingement. The complication rate is low, and if the correct technique that respects the blood supply is used, femoral head necrosis does not occur. The most frequent complications are minor ectopic bone formation and nonunion of the greater trochanter. Surgical treatment includes the correction of femoral and acetabular pathology. Clinically, in approximately 75-80% of cases a good-to-excellent result can be obtained. However, patients with advanced degenerative changes (exceeding stage 1 osteoarthritis using the Tonnis score) have worse outcomes. It has also been shown that preservation of the labrum has a significant influence on both clinical outcome and progression of osteoarthritis: It seems that preservation of the labrum is mandatory.