There Is Limited and Inconsistent Reporting of Postoperative Rehabilitation for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome: A Scoping Review of 169 Studies

Objective: To evaluate the reporting of rehabilitation guidelines in studies of postoperative outcomes of patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome and/or labral tear.

Design: Scoping review.

Literature Search: A computer-assisted literature search was conducted of the MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Embase databases on June 17, 2018. Using key words related to FAI syndrome/labral tear and both open and arthroscopic surgical outcomes, we identified 169 studies that included 16 675 patients. Separate authors calculated and verified the prevalence of reported outcomes.

Study Selection Criteria: We included intervention and observational studies that were prospective or retrospective in design. Studies must have included patients with a primary diagnosis of FAI syndrome and/or labral tear.

Data Synthesis: We calculated the mean ± SD prevalence for continuous variables, where possible.

Results: Hip arthroscopy was the primary surgical procedure (76% of studies). The mean ± SD age of participants was 34.8 ± 9.2 years and the mean ± SD follow-up time was 27 ± 15.3 months. Of the 169 included studies, 74 (44%) discussed phases of rehabilitation, 49 (29%) reported details on goals between phases, 1 in 3 described details on rehabilitation progression, and fewer than 1 in 10 reported sufficient detail to replicate the rehabilitation protocol. Weight-bearing and range-of-motion restrictions were poorly reported and variable in duration.

Conclusion: Surgical outcome studies do not provide sufficient detail or consistency for practicing clinicians to replicate a postoperative rehabilitation protocol for patients with FAI syndrome/labral tear. .