Evaluation and Synthesis of Physiotherapy Protocols for Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome (FAIS): A Scoping Review.

Introduction: The physiotherapeutic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) is a topic of growing interest in the literature. The aim of this study is to present all of the treatment modalities used in scientific research in order to analyze the extent to which the protocols are explicit.

Method: This is a scoping review. The literature search was performed using the Cochrane, Embase and PubMed databases. The data was collected in various tables and the protocols were assessed using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) and the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) tools.

Results: Twenty-four studies were selected and 30 protocols were analyzed. The most frequently reported treatment modalities were strengthening (n = 25), manual therapy (n = 22) and stretching (n = 21). The average total score was 47% for studies evaluated by the TIDieR checklist and 40% for studies evaluated by the CERT checklist.

Discussion: The treatment modalities identified are similar to those used for other musculoskeletal conditions. Specific treatments were found and were generally consistent with the clinical characteristics of FAIS. The lack of precision in the reporting of interventions compromises their clinical use. The same lack of detail is noted for other physiotherapeutic interventions in the musculoskeletal field.

Conclusion: Numerous treatment methods are presented in the literature. However, the protocols lack in explicitness and the use of the TIDieR and CERT evaluation grids is not widespread.