Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of arthroscopic treatment for recalcitrant external snapping hip.
Materials and methods: Between September 2011 and June 2013, we evaluated 7 patients (10 cases) with snapping hip who were refractory to conservative treatments for at least 3 months. Two patients (4 cases) were impossible to adduct both knees in 90°of hip flexion. Surgery was done in lateral decubitus position, under spinal anesthesia. We made 2 arthroscopic portals to operate the patients, and used cross-cutting with flap resection technique to treat the lesion. We performed additional gluteal sling release in those 2 patients (4 cases) with adduction difficulty. Average follow-up length was 19 months (range, 12-33 months). Clinical improvement was evaluated with visual analog scale (VAS), modified Harris hip score (mHHS), and also investigated for presence of limping or other complications as well.
Results: The VAS decreased from 6.8 (range, 6-9) preoperatively to 0.2 (range, 0-2) postoperatively, and the mHHS improved from 68.2 to 94.8 after surgery. None of the patients complained of post-operative wound problem or surgical complications.
Conclusion: The clinical outcome of arthroscopic treatment for recalcitrant external snapping hip was encouraging and all patients were also satisfied with the cosmetic results.
Keywords: Arthroscopy; External snapping hip; Gluteal sling release; Iliotibial band release.