Objectives. 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. Methods. 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). Results. Clinical equipoise was demonstrated when surgeons were given
clinical scenarios and asked whether they would manage a patient
operatively or non-operatively. A total of 23 surgeons (77%) who
routinely perform FAI surgery were willing to recruit patients into
a RCT, and 28 patients (90%) were willing to participate. 75% of
responding surgeons believed it was appropriate to randomise patients
to non-operative treatment for ≥ 12 months. Conversely, only eight
patients (26%) felt this was acceptable, although 29 (94%) were
willing to continue non-operative treatment for six months. More
patients were concerned about their risk of developing OA than their
current symptoms, although most patients felt that the two were
of equal importance. Conclusions. We conclude that a RCT comparing operative and non-operative
management of FAI is feasible and should be considered a research
priority. An important finding for
