Postoperative weight-bearing restrictions and rehabilitation protocols after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Despite recent increased interest in hip arthroscopy for the management of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), there is little evidence to guide weight-bearing recommendations and rehabilitation postoperatively. The primary objective of this study was to determine if sufficient evidence exists to recommend specific weight-bearing restrictions postoperatively. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021247741). PubMed, MEDLINE and Embase were searched on 3 March 2023 for Level I–IV studies including patients over the age of 18 years, with a minimum 1-year follow-up and reporting of a weight-bearing status, a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) and a clinical outcome. Meta-analysis was precluded due to heterogeneity in the included studies, and a descriptive analysis was undertaken. Methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed with the methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS). Twenty-four studies including 2231 patients who underwent hip arthroscopy for treatment of FAI were included (follow-up interval 33.2 ± 24.7 months). Most articles (62.5%) were case series. There were seven terms describing weight-bearing recommendations, with 83% being some variation of ‘partial weight-bearing’. Eight PROMs were reported, with 83% using the modified Harris Hip Score and 87.5% of studies reporting reoperation rates. Only 75% of studies reported rehabilitation protocols. The average MINORS score was 11.07 ± 1.10 out of 16 for non-comparative studies and 18.22 ± 1.48 out of 24 for comparative studies. The reporting of weight-bearing status, clinical outcomes, PROMs and rehabilitation parameters remains poor. At present, sufficient comparative evidence does not exist to make specific weight-bearing recommendation postoperatively.