Postoperative Hip Bracing After Hip Arthroscopy

Hip arthroscopy for treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) involves reshaping of the osseous sources of impingement ("osteoplasty") and treatment of impingement-associated labral tears with labral repair. The hip joint is subluxated with traction to accomplish this procedure. The diagnoses of FAIS and the incidence of hip arthroscopy have both increased dramatically in the last 20 years in the US -- in a recent study using IBM Marketscan to evaluate rates of hip arthroscopic treatment of FAIS, the investigators found this incidence doubled from 1.2 to 2.1 per 100,000 person-years in just a 3-year period. Despite the increasing incidence of hip arthroscopy in the US, on a recent review the investigators have found few evidence-based studies on postoperative care. A particular area of debate is the use of postoperative hip braces. Postoperative hip braces are advocated to decrease postoperative pain by offloading hip musculature. They may also prevent overuse of the hip flexors by supporting the hip during gait. However there are no studies looking at efficacy of hip braces after hip arthroscopy, and on average 50% of high-volume hip arthroscopists use bracing. The utility of bracing is important because hip braces are expensive (averaging $350-$600): if there are over 7000 hip arthroscopies performed nationwide and 50% of surgeons use hip braces, this amounts to over $2,000,000. The investigator's overall objective is to use a randomized controlled trial to test the cited benefits of postoperative hip bracing on short term patient reported pain scores, validated hip-specific pain scores, and physical exam findings of hip flexor tendonitis.