The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current available literature on hip arthroscopy and determine the clinical indications in the pediatric patient population (age ≤ 18). In accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), a comprehensive literature search was performed on the 23 October 2018 using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and e-books to identify research surrounding the use of hip arthroscopy in the pediatrics. Exclusion criteria were studies that described joints other than the hip, animal studies, systematic reviews, open procedures and those that reported solely on patients aged 19-year-old and older. From 232 studies, 57 were reviewed in detail; 17 articles were removed as their indication fell into a category of 'diagnostic hip arthroscopy for pain' or no clear separation between the data on the adult and pediatric population could be made in a full text review of the paper. Eleven categories were identified as indications for hip arthroscopy in the pediatric population. At best a Grade C recommendation can be made to support the use of hip arthroscopy in the pediatric population. Our results support our hypothesis. Despite the exponential increase in hip arthroscopy over the last decade, limited evidence exists in support of its use in the pediatric (≤18) population. Our findings support the need for further research in delineating the indications for its use, as clearly arthroscopy may be advantageous in many situations, particularly in light of the alternatives.
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.