Surgical Treatment of Femoroacetabular Impingement: How Far Can We Go?

Principal Investigator: Robert T. Trousdale, M.D.
Project Coordinator: Frank Chen — chen.qingshan@mayo.edu

In patients with symptomatic hip impingement, surgical resection of the head neck junction may improve range of motion and relieve pain. A potential risk of this procedure is fracture. We evaluated the amount of resection of the anterior-lateral femoral neck junction that can be done safely.

Resection up to 30% of the anterior-lateral quadrant of the head neck junction to treat hip impingement can be performed without significantly altering the load bearing capacity of the proximal femur. However 30% of resection represent a marginal limit of resection and decrease significantly the amount of energy required to produce a fracture. It should be elected as the very highest limit of resection because of the change in the pattern of the femoral head-neck response to axial loads observed. If a fracture occurs at this point it might occur at the level of the bone resection.