How Post Hip Surgery Pain Affects Return to Sport

The reasons athletes do not return to their sport after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome aren’t completely understood. However, a new study suggests that persistent hip pain may be the main reason.

In the study, “Can We Identify Why Athletes Fail to Return to Sport After Hip Arthroscopy,” published online on October 5, 2020 in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers reviewed three electronic database to determine the rate of failure to return to sport after the surgery and the reasons why.

Data was collected on the rate of patients who didn’t return to sport, the level of competition (high level, recreational, or mixed), the type of sport, comments on patients who didn’t return to sport, the rate of subsequent hip surgeries (total hip replacement or revision hip arthroscopy) in non-returning athletes, and the reported reason for not returning to sport.

Overall, 20 studies and 1,093 athletes were included in the analyses. The weighted rate of athletes who didn’t return to sport after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) was 12.1% (95% CI, 7.7-17.4).

Persistent hip pain was the most commonly reported factor in a patient’s decision not to return to sport (52/110). Hip-related reasons for not returning were more prominent than non-hip related issues (74.3% vs. 22.3%; p < .0001).

Only two of the studies reported the ages of the athletes and sex was only reported in three of them. Data on which of the non-returning athletes had additional hip procedures after the initial one was only reported in 20% of the studies.

The author wrote, “There is a severe lack of evidence on the athlete characteristics and clinical course of the non-returning athletes, and the rate of subsequent hip procedures is unknown. The outcomes and reasons for athletes not returning to sport should be reported in detail to improve patient care.”