Intermediate-Term Outcomes of Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome in Patients With Global Versus Isolated Lateral Acetabular Overcoverage.

Background: Previous studies evaluating the outcomes of hip arthroscopy for patients with global acetabular overcoverage and focal superolateral acetabular overcoverage suffer from short-term follow-up and inconsistent radiographic criteria when defining these subpopulations of patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS).

Purpose: To evaluate the intermediate-term postoperative outcomes for patients with FAIS in the setting of global acetabular overcoverage, lateral acetabular overcoverage, and normal acetabular coverage.

Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for FAIS were enrolled in a prospective cohort study, and those with a minimum follow-up of 5 years were included in this analysis. Patients were grouped based on type of acetabular coverage: global overcoverage (lateral center-edge angle [LCEA] ≥40°, with coxa profunda), lateral overcoverage (LCEA ≥40°, without coxa profunda), and no overcoverage (LCEA <40°). Functional outcomes (modified Harris Hip Score and Nonarthritic Hip Score) and failure of primary hip arthroscopy were compared between groups.

Results: In total, 94 patients (mean age, 41.9 ± 14.2 years) were included with a mean follow-up duration of 6.1 ± 0.9 years. Of these patients, 40.4% had no acetabular overcoverage, 36.2% had lateral overcoverage, and 23.4% had global overcoverage. There was no difference between groups with respect to percentage of patients who underwent reoperation for either revision arthroscopy or conversion to total hip arthroplasty (28.9% for the normal acetabular coverage group, 29.4% for the lateral overcoverage group, and 31.8% for the global overcoverage group; = .971). Among patients for whom primary hip arthroscopy did not fail, there was no difference in 5-year functional outcomes between groups. Postoperative LCEA >40° (β = -13.3; 95% CI, -24.1 to -2.6; = .016), female sex (β = -14.5; 95% CI, -22.7 to -6.2; = .001), and higher body mass index (β = -1.9; 95% CI, -2.8 to -1.0; < .001) were associated with worse intermediate-term hip function in terms of modified Harris Hip Score.

Conclusion: There was no difference in functional outcomes or rate of reoperation at a minimum of 5 years postoperatively between those with global acetabular overcoverage, those with regional lateral overcoverage, and those with normal acetabular coverage. Provided that an appropriate acetabuloplasty is performed, there is no evidence to suggest that global acetabular overcoverage portends a worse prognosis than other FAIS subtypes.