What is femoroacetabular impingement syndrome

  Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAI) refers to a hip disorder in which abnormal stress contact between the proximal femoral cephalocervical junction area and the acetabulum occurs at the end of hip motion in a morphologically altered hip joint (anatomical abnormalities of the femur or acetabulum), which is easily overlooked clinically and is a cause of hip pain in young and middle-aged people, especially those who exercise more. FAI is characterized by pain in the inguinal region, limited hip flexion and internal rotation, and pain, which can be induced by a specific impingement test, and occurs mainly due to abnormal bony morphology of the above mentioned areas and abnormal collision between the proximal femur and the acetabular rim, resulting in damage to the acetabular glenoid labrum and acetabular cartilage and thus triggering hip pain symptoms. The mechanism of impingement can be divided into two types: cam-type and pinch-type, both of which are often present at the same time. x-ray radiographs show abnormal bony elevation of the femoral head and neck joint area, gun handle-like deformity, crossed sign, figure-of-eight sign, etc. CT examination can detect bony abnormalities of the proximal femur and acetabulum, MRI can show some secondary glenoid labral injury and cartilage injury, and MRI (MRA) can MRI can show some secondary glenoid labral injuries and cartilage injuries, and MRA can greatly increase the positive rate of glenoid labral injuries and femoroacetabular impingement. With the development of arthroscopic techniques, it is now possible to reach the central and peripheral compartments of the hip joint through hip arthroscopy to clean or repair glenoid labral injuries and to reshape the proximal femur and acetabulum.