Diagnostic and Therapeutic Arthroscopy of the Hip in Children and Adolescents: Evaluation of Results

Twenty-four arthroscopies of the hip performed at the Alfred I. duPont Institute, Wilmington, Delaware, in 21 patients between 1981 and 1991 were retrospectively studied. The average age of patients at the time of arthroscopy was 16 years (range, 11-21 years). The arthroscopies were diagnostic if the procedure was performed to visualize the hip or to perform a synovial biopsy and therapeutic if the procedure was performed to treat a suspected intra-articular abnormality. There were eight diagnostic arthroscopies and 16 therapeutic arthroscopies. The arthroscopy correlated with the presumptive causes of symptoms in 13 hips (54%) and failed to correlate in 11 hips (46%). Two patients had complications of transient pudendal nerve dysesthesia with full recovery. There were no infections or residual hip stiffness. A diagnostic arthroscopy is not helpful as a confirming diagnostic procedure. Arthroscopy of the hip is helpful in obtaining synovial biopsies and allows loose body removal, thus obviating the need for open surgery and intraoperative dislocation of the hip.