Hip-related pain and femoroacetabular impingement syndrome: how common is it? How does it impact on biomechanics? How does it affect muscle function?

Joshua Heerey (La Trobe University, Melbourne) presented at the #SportSuisse2018 his work “What is the prevalence and relationship of bony morphology and features associated with early hip osteoarthritis in sub-elite footballers with and without hip and groin pain”, and won the JOSPT award for the best poster in Bern: congratulations! The aims of this study were to describe the prevalence of bony morphology in football players with and without hip related groin pain, and to determine the association between pain and bony morphology in these athletes (soccer and Australian football players; subelite level; mean age: 26 years old, 80% men; 187 symptomatic and 55 asymptomatic). All subjects underwent specific x-rays exams (supine AP pelvis, Dunn 45°) and filled the International Hip Outcome Tool (IHOT-33). The results showed that in sub-elite football players: /3 of all hips have cam morphology independent of pain (pincer morphology and acetabular dysplasia were rarely seen in this cohort), and that hip related groin pain is not associated with bony morphology. This strengthen again the importance of to use other clinical entities (as described by Per Hölmich) and to carefully/critically consider and evaluate the intra-articular pathologies in sub-elite football players with long standing hip and groin pain