Femoroacetabular Junction Impingement (FAI) describes abnormalities
in the shape of the femoral head–neck junction, or abnormalities
in the orientation of the acetabulum. In the short term, FAI can
give rise to pain and disability, and in the long-term it significantly increases
the risk of developing osteoarthritis. The Femoroacetabular Impingement
Trial (FAIT) aims to determine whether operative or non-operative
intervention is more effective at improving symptoms and preventing
the development and progression of osteoarthritis. FAIT is a multicentre superiority parallel two-arm randomised
controlled trial comparing physiotherapy and activity modification
with arthroscopic surgery for the treatment of symptomatic FAI.
Patients aged 18 to 60 with clinical and radiological evidence of
FAI are eligible. Principal exclusion criteria include previous
surgery to the index hip, established osteoarthritis (Kellgren–Lawrence
≥ 2), hip dysplasia (centre-edge angle <
20°), and completion
of a physiotherapy programme targeting FAI within the previous 12
months. Recruitment will take place over 24 months and 120 patients
will be randomised in a 1:1 ratio and followed up for three years.
The two primary outcome measures are change in hip outcome score
eight months post-randomisation (approximately six-months post-intervention
initiation) and change in radiographic minimum joint space width
38 months post-randomisation. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01893034. Cite this article: Aims
Methods
The number of surgical procedures performed each year to treat
femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) continues to rise. Although there
is evidence that surgery can improve symptoms in the short-term,
there is no evidence that it slows the development of osteoarthritis
(OA). We performed a feasibility study to determine whether patient
and surgeon opinion was permissive for a Randomised Controlled Trial
(RCT) comparing operative with non-operative treatment for FAI. Surgeon opinion was obtained using validated questionnaires at
a Specialist Hip Meeting (n = 61, 30 of whom stated that they routinely
performed FAI surgery) and patient opinion was obtained from clinical
patients with a new diagnosis of FAI (n = 31).Objectives
Methods
