Editorial Commentary: The Femoral Impingement Index: Can Composite Morphology Better Capture Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome?

Abstract

Hip arthroscopy has undergone remarkable evolution over the past 2 decades. Improvements in patient selection, advanced imaging, labral preservation, capsular management, and osseous correction of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome have translated into consistently favorable outcomes for appropriately selected patients. Yet, despite these advances, one fundamental challenge remains largely unresolved: Why do patients with apparently similar diagnoses and technically successful procedures experience substantially different degrees of postoperative improvement? It is becoming increasingly clear that the painful hip does not function according to isolated radiographic values. Rather, hip biomechanics emerge from the interaction between osseous morphology, dynamic motion, soft-tissue restraints, muscular control, and patient-specific functional demands. Understanding these complex relations may help guide future care, and bone-morphology interactions are an important place to begin.