Outcome of Hip Impingement Surgery: Does Generalized Joint Hypermobility Matter?

BACKGROUND: Generalized joint hypermobility (JH) might negatively influence the results of surgical femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) treatment, as JH has been linked to musculoskeletal pain and injury incidence in athletes. JH may also be associated with worse outcomes of FAI surgery in thin females. PURPOSE: To (1) determine the results of FAI surgery at a minimum 2-year follow-up by means of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and failure rates, (2) assess the prevalence of JH in FAI patients and its effect on outcomes, and (3) identify other risk factors associated with treatment failure. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: We included 232 consecutive patients (118 females; mean age, 36 years) with 244 hips surgically treated for symptomatic FAI between 2010 and 2012. All patients completed different PROMs preoperatively and at a mean follow-up of 3.7 years. Satisfaction questions were used to define subjective failure (answering any of the 2 subjective questions with dissatisfied/ very dissatisfied and/or didn't help/ made things worse). Conversion to total hip replacement (THR) was defined as objective failure. JH was assessed using the Beighton score. RESULTS: All PROM values significantly ( P < .001) improved from preoperative measurement to follow-up (Oxford Hip Score: 33.8 to 42.4; University of California at Los Angeles Activity Scale: 6.3 to 7.3; EuroQol-5 Dimension Index: 0.58 to 0.80). Overall, 34% of patients scored ≥4 on the Beighton score, and 18% scored ≥6, indicating generalized JH. Eleven hips (4.7%) objectively failed and were converted to THR. Twenty-four patients (10.3%) were considered as subjective failures. No predictive risk factors were identified for subjective failure. Tönnis grade significantly ( P < .001) predicted objective failure (odds ratio, 13; 95% CI, 4-45). There was a weak inverse association ( r = -0.16 to -0.30) between Beighton scores and preoperative PROM values. There were no significant associations between Beighton scores and postoperative PROM values or subjective failure rates, but patients who objectively failed had lower Beighton scores than did nonfailures (1.6 vs 2.6; P = .049). CONCLUSION: FAI surgery yielded favorable outcomes at short- to midterm follow-up. JH as assessed by the Beighton score was not consistently associated with subjective and objective results. Joint degeneration was the most important risk factor for conversion to THR. Although statistical significance was not reached, female patients with no joint degeneration, only mild FAI deformity, and higher Oxford scores at the time of surgery seemed to be at increased risk for subjective dissatisfaction.

Validation of a self-reported Beighton score to assess hypermobility in patients with femoroacetabular impingement.

PURPOSE: The prevalence of joint hypermobility (JH) in patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and its association with outcomes is yet widely unknown. This study aimed to validate a self-reported version of the Beighton score for FAI patients, and to determine possible associations between JH and clinical and radiographic parameters. METHODS: The study included 55 consecutive patients (18 females, mean age 29 years) with a diagnosis of FAI. Patients completed a self-reported Beighton score before clinical assessment, and a clinician blinded to the self-reported form filled the examiner-based version. Reliability of the self-reported version was assessed using kappa statistics. The prevalence of JH and associations with clinical and radiographic parameters were determined. RESULTS: The patients scored a mean of 2.6 points on the self-reported Beighton score. Agreement between self-assessment and examination was good to excellent for all single items and for the total score. Considering a Beighton score of ≥4 as cutoff for JH, the prevalence in the present cohort was 32.7% (50% of females and 24.3% of males). Significant associations were found between Beighton scores and hip joint motion. While no direct correlations were found between Beighton scores and the radiographic parameters; the group of patients with JH differed considerably from that without JH regarding gender distribution and FAI type. CONCLUSIONS: The patient-oriented Beighton score proved to be feasible and reliable in FAI patients. The prevalence of JH in these patients seems to be high and future investigations about the association of JH with FAI and treatment outcomes are therefore warranted.