Rehabilitation after hip arthroscopy: comparison of two treatment strategies.

The amount of hip arthroscopies performed has rised considerably in the last few years. These arthroscopies are often performed for the treatment of Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and/or labral pathology of the hip. However, it is unclear what the postoperative physiotherapeutic intervention should consist of. Several studies have described rehabiliation protocols, but none have been thoroughly investigated. Futhermore, these protocols differ in frequency and duration of treatment as well as in supervised versus none supervised rehabiliation. This could mean that patients are currently being over- or undertreated. Therefore the goal of this study is to compare two physiotherapeutic rehabiliation strategies (supervised versus less supervised) in patients who undergo hip arthroscopy for FAI and/or labral pathology. The hypothesis is that both groups will equally recover in the long term, but in the short term the supervised group will recover faster.

Furthermore, patient satisfaction for each of the rehabiliation strategies will be measured.

In order to achieve this goal patients will be randomised into two groups. Both groups receive the same postoperative rehabilitation with the same exercises. Group 1 receives treatment and conducts these exercises supervised by a physiotherapist twice a week. They conduct the exercises once more every week unsupervised (at home). Group 2 conducts these exercises three times a week at home. Once every three weeks they receive treatment and supervision of the exercises by a physiotherapist. Measurements will be performed pre operative and 6, 12 and 18 weeks post operative with an one and two-year follow-up. Primary outcomes of this study are the number of treatments, hip function measured by the Internation Hip Outcome Tool 33 (IHOT-33) and the amount of perceived pain measured by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

The aim of the study is to compare two physiotherapeutic rehabiliation strategies (supervised versus less supervised) in patients after hip arthroscopy for FAI and/or labral pathology. The hypothesis is that both groups will equally recover in the long term, but in the short term the supervised group will recover faster. Furthermore, patient satisfaction for each of the rehabiliation strategies will be measured.

The complete rehabilitation will take 18 weeks, excluding the pre operative consult and one year follow-up measurement. The measurements are conducted at the following timepoints:

T0 – pre operative

T1 – direct post operative (within 1th week)

T2 – 6 weeks post operative

T3 – 12 weeks post operative

T4 – 18 weeks post operative

T5 – 1 year post operative




The total amount of therapy sessions for group 1 is 44 and for group 2 is 7. This excludes pre operative intake and the one year follow-up measurement.

Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy will be randomized. Both groups receive the same postoperative physiotherapeutic rehabilitation with the same exercises. Group 1 will conduct these exercises supervised by a physiotherapist twice a week and unsupervised (at home) once a week. Group 2 will conduct these exercises three times a week at home with supervision by a physiotherapist once every three weeks. The exercises consist of strength and stability exercises as well as self mobilisations of the hip, pelvis and lumbar spine. When necessary, both groups will also receive manual mobilisations by a physiotherapist untill full range of motion is restored. However, group 1 receives these mobilisations twice a week untill full range of motion is restored. Group 2 receives these mobilisations once every three weeks untill full range of motion is restored. Full range of motion is defined as identical range of motion for the operated versus the non-operated side.