FAIT

BACKGROUND

Femoroacetabular impingement is caused when patients have additional bone adjacent to their hip joint which damages the joint cartilage when the hip moves in certain directions. In addition to causing pain there is also evidence that this impingement may lead to the development of osteoarthritis at the joint at a later stage. Keyhole surgery (arthroscopy) to remove this extra bone is being performed by an increasing number of surgeons.

While this surgery has been shown to be effective at improving symptoms at short term, symptoms also frequently improve with physiotherapy and activity modification. However, there is no evidence that either treatment can prevent the risk of development of osteoarthritis at a later stage. As a result in some primary care trusts in the UK, it is believed that there is inadequate evidence of benefit from surgery to justify the cost. This trial (FAIT) will provide the opportunity to compare the effectiveness of surgical (arthroscopy) and non-surgical (physiotherapy and activity modification) management at improving symptoms and preventing the development of osteoarthritis.

AIMS

To determine whether arthroscopic surgery or physiotherapy and activity modification are superior at improving symptoms and preventing the development of osteoarthritis in patients with femoroacetabular impingement.