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Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI): The Effectiveness of Physical Therapy

Effectiveness of Physical Therapy (PT) Alone vs PT Followed by Surgery to Alleviate the Symptoms of Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)

Status
Withdrawn
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03077022
Enrollment
0
Registered
2017-03-10
Start date
2016-02-29
Completion date
2018-02-28
Last updated
2019-07-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Femoroacetabular Impingement

Brief summary

The treatment of femoroacetabular impingement has evolved over the last several years. As the number of arthroscopic hip operations has risen over the last few years, so has the level controversy in regards to the appropriate initial management. There have been many recent advances in clinical diagnosis, advanced imaging techniques, improved indications for surgery and improved arthroscopic techniques which have led to improved clinical outcomes, but the effectiveness of physical therapy remains unknown.

Detailed description

The treatment of femoroacetabular impingement has evolved over the last several years. As the number of arthroscopic hip operations has risen over the last few years, so has the level controversy in regards to the appropriate initial management. There have been many recent advances in clinical diagnosis, advanced imaging techniques, improved indications for surgery and improved arthroscopic techniques which have led to improved clinical outcomes, but the effectiveness of physical therapy remains unknown. A paucity of evidence exists in regards to the non-operative treatment of FAI. Several insurance companies are now requiring three to six months of physical therapy prior to approval for surgery. There is not a single study that has objectively evaluated the effectiveness of physical therapy in the avoidance of surgical intervention. The investigators plan to evaluate this using an electronic outcomes data collection system. The hypothesis is that the majority of patients will not see a significant enough improvement with physical therapy to avoid surgery, especially in a subset of patients such as those with sub spine impingement. The investigators plan to prospectively collect data for three years and monitor the outcome of each hip patient, especially those treated with physical therapy as an initial treatment and there potential avoidance of surgery.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

Stryker Orthopaedics
CollaboratorINDUSTRY
University of Colorado, Denver
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

1. symptoms consistent with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) 2. a physical exam consistent with FAI 3. radiographic measurements consistent with the diagnosis including an anterior pincer lesion and/or a alpha angle greater than 55 degrees

Exclusion criteria

1. subjects do not have FAI by physical exam and radiographic parameters 2. joint space \<2mm 3. have had prior physical therapy for FAI 4. have had prior hip surgery.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in sub spine impingement associated with physical therapyBaseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years.The investigators plan to prospectively collect data and monitor the outcome of each hip patient. Subjects will complete a number of assessments utilizing iPads with an electronic data collection system. The data will be collected during each visit or done remotely via the internet, at which time the adjusted means from this longitudinal model will be compared.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026