Femoroacetabular Impingement

A multitude of factors including biochemical, genetic, and acquired abnormalities may contribute to osteoarthritis of the hip. Although the pathomechanism of degenerative process affecting the dysplastic hip is well understood, the exact pathogenesis for idiopathic osteoarthritis has not been established. Based on clinical experience, with more than 600 surgical dislocations of the hip, allowing in situ inspection of the damage pattern and the dynamic proof of its origin, we propose femoroacetabular impingement as a mechanism for the development of early osteoarthritis for most nondysplastic hips. The concept focuses more on motion than on axial loading of the hip. Distinct clinical, radiographic, and…