Postoperative Hip Bracing After Hip Arthroscopy

Hip arthroscopy for treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) involves reshaping of the osseous sources of impingement ("osteoplasty") and treatment of impingement-associated labral tears with labral repair. Postoperative hip braces are advocated to decrease postoperative pain by offloading hip musculature. However there are no studies looking at efficacy of hip braces after hip arthroscopy, and on average 50% of high-volume hip arthroscopists use bracing. The objective of this study is to use a randomized controlled trial to test the cited benefits of postoperative hip bracing on short term patient reported pain scores, validated hip-specific pain scores, and physical exam findings of hip flexor tendonitis.