SPORTS MEDICINE 

Minerva Ortopedica e Traumatologica 2013 December;64(6):547-59

Copyright © 2013 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Femoroacetabular impingement

Pennock A. ¹, Souder C. ²

¹ Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA; ² Scott and White Memorial Hospital Temple, PA, USA

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) has been increasingly recognized as a source of hip pain in the young athlete over the last decade. The abnormal contact of the femoral head on the acetabulum results in a combination of chondal and labral pathology that predisposes the hip joint to altered mechanics, hip pain, and ultimately premature arthritis. Improved physical examination maneuvers, radiographic imaging, and surgical techniques have led to significant breakthroughs in the field of FAI. Currently, surgery, both open and arthroscopic, plays a major role in the treatment of symptomatic patient with FAI yielding good clinical outcomes in the short and mid-term. Future studies will be necessary to see if surgical intervention changes the natural history of the disease. The purpose of this article is to review the contemporary literature on FAI.