Does Femoral Retroversion Adversely Affect Outcomes After Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome? A Midterm Analysis

Purpose: To report 5-year outcomes of arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome in patients with femoral retroversion compared with a control group of patients with normal femoral anteversion. Methods: Data were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed for all patients who underwent hip arthroscopy between August 2008 and April 2013. Patients were included in analysis if they underwent hip arthroscopy during this period and had femoral version <= 0 degrees calculated using magnetic resonance imaging. Exclusion criteria included prior ipsilateral hip conditions/surgeries or Tonnis grade >1. These patients were pair matched with patients having femoral anteversion between 10 degrees and 20 degrees based on gender, body mass index +/- 10, and age +/- 10 years. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were collected at 3 months and 1 year postoperatively and annually thereafter. An a priori power analysis was performed. Results: A total of 59 patients were identified as the experimental group out of 69 eligible for inclusion (86%). All 59 patients were matched, with a mean age of 37.4 years and mean body mass index of 26.9. Twenty patients were female, and 39 were male. These patients demonstrated significant improvement from their preoperative state in all patient-reported outcomes and visual analog score scores (P <.001). Thirty-eight patients met the threshold for minimal clinically important difference, and 35 achieved patient acceptable symptomatic state for the modified Harris Hip Score questionnaire. Seven patients converted to total hip replacement. No differences were noted between retroverted and control patients in any of the outcome measures collected, in pain or satisfaction ratings, in the frequency of or duration to secondary surgeries or in complication rate (P >.05). Conclusions: Patients with femoral retroversion demonstrated significantly higher outcomes at minimum 5-year follow-up after undergoing arthroscopic hip surgery. These outcomes were not different from those of patients with normal femoral version. While femoral retroversion should not be considered a contraindication to hip arthroscopy, it should be carefully considered as a factor in patient selection and surgical planning.