Femoroacetabular impingement: do outcomes reliably improve with surgical dislocations?

Femoroacetabular impingement is a motion-based concept of conflict that occurs secondary to morphologic abnormalities of the proximal femur and/or acetabulum. Creating impingement-free motion through restoration of normal morphology serves as the goal of joint-preserving procedures. We retrospectively reviewed the short-term functional and radiographic outcomes of 46 patients (48 hips) with femoroacetabular impingement treated with a surgical dislocation and restoration of offset. The average Merle D'Aubigné-Postel score improved from a preoperative of 13 (range, 7-16 +/- 1.7) to a postoperative score of 16.8 (range, 12-18 +/- 1.3). Creating impingement-free motion via a surgical dislocation improves symptoms in patients with limited radiographic signs of arthritis who are experiencing impingement-related hip pain.