Hegarty, Cullen J.

Purpose Hip arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure which has been increasingly used among athletes for several hip joint related pathologies as it allows for a faster recovery. However, objective return to sport criteria have not been described previously among this population. Objective To systematically review the literature to evaluate and describe the objective return-to-sport (RTS) criteria to release patients back to sport following hip arthroscopy. Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature search according to the PRISMA guidelines. Studies were included in the review if patients underwent a hip arthroscopy procedure and the study described criteria for their patients to RTS. Two independent reviewers selected studies for inclusion and extracted study characteristics and objective RTS criteria. Results Of the 306 that were a part of our original search, 6 studies fit our inclusion criteria. There were 250 athletes (average age: 26.1) and 263 hips which underwent hip arthroscopy surgery. Of these athletes, the cohort was on average 46.5% female and an average of 91.2% of athletes returned to sport about 6 months following surgery. The primary sports these athletes participated in were soccer, swimming, skiing/snowboarding, and hockey. The objective RTS measures that were generally described included sport specific tests, range-of-motion, hip strength, and performance-based criteria. Conclusion There are minimal studies who described objective RTS criteria to release patients back to sport following hip arthroscopy procedures. Sports specific tests, hip strength, and performance-based criteria were mentioned as objective criteria to release patients back to sport.