Clinical outcomes of arthroscopic repair of acetabular labral tears

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the primary clinical outcomes of arthroscopic labral repair. Methods All patients who underwent arthroscopic repair of the acetabular labrum performed by a senior surgeon between October 2010 and December 2013 were invited to participate in this prospective study. Patients included were those who had a preoperative diagnosis of labral tears, a lateral centre edge greater than 25° and a labral tear believed to be suturable during the intraoperative evaluation. Patients with Tönnis grade 2 or grade 3 hip osteoarthritis and those who had undergone a previous hip surgery were excluded. All patients were evaluated using the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) during the final appointment before surgery, 4 months after surgery and at the final evaluation. Interviews were conducted by the senior surgeon. Results Eighty-four patients (90 hips) underwent arthroscopic repair. The mean age was 44.2 years and the mean follow-up period was 43.0 months (minimum of 25 months and maximum of 59 months). The mean mHHS was 80.4 preoperatively, 95.0 at 4 months postoperatively and 96.6 at final evaluation. A statistically significant difference existed among these scores (p<0.001). Conclusion Arthroscopic labral repair was associated with a clinically significant improvement in mHHS after short-term (4 months) and medium-term (43 months) follow-up. Level of evidence Level IV, therapeutic case series.