Abstract
The purpose of this study is to audit the early clinical outcomes of a consecutive series of hip arthroscopies performed by one surgeon.
Pre-operative WOMAC and Non Arthritic Hip scores were performed on the patients. All patients had MRI arthrograms. These were correlated with the clinical findings at the time of surgery. Postoperatively all complications were recorded and at one year post surgery the pre-operative scores were repeated.
There are 37 consecutive cases. 15 males and 22 females. Average age 39 years. 76% of cases were accident related. The average length of symptoms pre-operatively was 21 months. There were 2 false negative MRI arthrograms and one false positive. The surgical treatment included debridement of 18 labral tears and 10 labral tears associated with an articular cartilage defect. The average traction time was 39 minutes. The complications were minor and all have resolved.
There are many indications for hip arthroscopy however the outcomes of labral debridement are not clearly defined. This paper attempts to measure the success of arthroscopic labral debridement in a consecutive series of patients. The clinical symptoms and MRI arthrograms seem to have a good correlation with the arthroscopic findings. The short term results of this treatment are encouraging as is the low morbidity associated with the surgery itself.
The abstracts were prepared by Editorial Secretary Jean-Claude Theis. Correspondence should be addressed to NZOA at Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dunedin Hospital, Private Bag 1921, Dunedin, New Zealand.
