Previous Arthroscopic Hip Surgery Increases Axial Distractibility Compared to the Native Contralateral Hip and May Suggest Instability.

Purpose: To compare intraoperative hip joint distractibility between hips that previously underwent arthroscopic surgery and the contralateral hip with no history of surgical manipulation. Methods: Patients undergoing revision hip arthroscopy between April 2019 and December 2020, who previously underwent arthroscopic hip surgery for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, were prospectively enrolled. Exclusion criteria were any contralateral hip surgery. Before instrumentation, fluoroscopic images of both hips were obtained at 25 lbs traction intervals up to 100 lbs. Total joint space was measured at each traction interval. Distraction was calculated as the difference between the baseline joint space and the total joint space at each subsequent traction interval. Wilcoxon signed ranks tests and McNemar tests were used to compare distraction between revision and native contralateral hips. Results: Forty-seven patients were included. Mean distraction of operative hips was significantly greater than mean distraction of nonoperative hips at traction intervals of 50 lbs (2.13 vs 1.04 mm, P = .002), 75 lbs (6.39 vs 3.70 mm, P < .001), and 100 lbs (8.24 vs 5.39, P < .001). Mean total joint space of operative hips was significantly greater than mean total joint space of nonoperative hips at traction intervals of 50 lbs (6.60 vs 5.39 mm, P < .001), 75 lbs (10.86 vs 8.05 mm, P < .001), and 100 lbs (12.73 vs 9.73, P < .001). A greater percentage of operative hips achieved all distraction thresholds, in 2-mm intervals up to 10-mm, at each traction interval. Conclusions: In the majority of patients undergoing revision hip arthroscopy, previous arthroscopic hip surgery increases axial distractibility of the hip joint compared with the native contralateral hip at axial traction forces of 50-100 lbs. Increased axial distractibility following hip arthroscopy may be suggestive of hip instability and can be assessed on a stress examination with the patient under anesthesia.