Postoperative rehabilitation for arthroscopic management of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome: a contemporary review

Review written by Dr Michael Reiman info

Key Points

  1. There is no unanimously agreed upon postoperative physical therapy protocol for FAI.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome is increasingly described and attributed to various hip pain. The initial description of FAI has been attributed to Ganz et al in 2001. It is described as a pathologic contact between the femur and the acetabulum due to incongruity between the shape of the proximal femur and the acetabulum (1,2).

The growth of surgical intervention for FAI syndrome has been exponential, despite limited evidence regarding biological plausibility and determination of best treatment approaches (3). Previous research has shown limited reproducibility of post-operative protocols in currently published studies, including simple guidelines for progression (4). A few articles have provided some general parameters for post-operative protocols. Still, as stated by the authors of this study, “at this time, there exists no single, unanimously agreed upon postoperative physical therapy protocol.”

The aim of this study was to review the current literature and provide a four-phased rehabilitation plan with specific suggestions regarding exercises, techniques, progressions, return to sport and so forth.

Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome is described as a pathologic contact between the femur and the acetabulum due to incongruity between the shape of the proximal femur and the acetabulum.
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This paper suggests that there is an opportunity for physiotherapists to meet with hip arthroscopy surgeons to discuss protocol decision making.

METHODS

  • The article is described as a contemporary review; essentially it is a narrative review - a non-structured synthesis of the current evidence and authors’ interpretation. These reviews have advantages: lacking structure allows for a more heterogenous representation of the literature,
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