OBJECTIVE: To confirm the therapeutic importance of hip arthroplasty in athletes whose pain precludes sportive function of the hip joint, being able to minimize it to the extent of helping on the return of sports practice at satisfactory levels. METHODS: 49 athlete patients (51 hips) submitted to hip arthroscopy complaining of pain and inability to practice sports were assessed. Follow-up time ranged from 12 to 74 months (mean: 39.0 months). Preoperatively, pain site, severity according to Facial Expression Scale (FES) and the degree of disability using the modified Harris Hip Score (HHS) were assessed. Different diagnoses were provided, which led to the indication of arthroscopy, such as femoral-acetabular impact, acetabular lip injury not secondary to femoral-acetabular impact, etc. Postoperatively, the patients were assessed by using the same methods as used at baseline and by the subjective analysis of return to sports activities. RESULTS: Based on pre-and postoperative HHS and FES, the statistical analysis showed significance between values. We found some improvement in all cases and return to sports activities at a satisfactory level in most of the cases. CONCLUSION: As a result of our study, we confirm that arthroscopy in athletes with local hip injuries is an effective technique, able to promote the return to sports practice in most of the cases, without pain, and with an effective joint function, provided well indicated.
Arthroscopy; Acetabular; Hip; Sports
