The 2016 Warwick Agreement on femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome was convened to build an international, multidisciplinary consensus on the diagnosis and management of patients with FAI syndrome. 22 panel members and 1 patient from 9 countries and 5 different specialties participated in a 1-day consensus meeting on 29 June 2016. Prior to the meeting, 6 questions were agreed on, and recent relevant systematic reviews and seminal literature were circulated. Panel members gave presentations on the topics of the agreed questions atSports Hip 2016, an open meeting held in the UK on 27–29 June. Presentations were followed by open discussion. At the 1-day consensus meeting, panel members developed statements in response to each question through open discussion; members then scored their level of agreement with each response on a scale of 0–10. Substantial agreement (range 9.5–10) was reached for each of the 6 consensus questions, and the associated terminology was agreed on. The term ‘femoroacetabular impingement syndrome’ was introduced to reflect the central role of patients' symptoms in the disorder. To reach a diagnosis, patients should have appropriate symptoms, positive clinical signs and imaging findings. Suitable treatments are conservative care, rehabilitation, and arthroscopic or open surgery. Current understanding of prognosis and topics for future research were discussed. The 2016 Warwick Agreement on FAI syndrome is an international multidisciplinary agreement on the diagnosis, treatment principles and key terminology relating to FAI syndrome.The Warwick Agreement on femoroacetabular impingement syndrome has been endorsed by the following 25 clinical societies: American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports and Exercise Medicine (ACPSEM), Australasian College of Sports and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP), Austian Sports Physiotherapists, British Association of Sports and Exercise Medicine (BASEM), British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT), Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine (CASEM), Danish Society of Sports Physical Therapy (DSSF), European College of Sports and Exercise Physicians (ECOSEP), European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery and Arthroscopy (ESSKA), Finnish Sports Physiotherapist Association (SUFT), German-Austrian-Swiss Society for Orthopaedic Traumatologic Sports Medicine (GOTS), International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT), International Society for Hip Arthroscopy (ISHA), Groupo di Interesse Specialistico dell’A.I.F.I., Norwegian Association of Sports Medicine and Physical Activity (NIMF), Norwegian Sports Physiotherapy Association (FFI), Society of Sports Therapists (SST), South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA), Sports Medicine Australia (SMA), Sports Doctors Australia (SDrA), Sports Physiotherapy New Zealand (SPNZ), Swedish Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine (SFAIM), Swiss Society of Sports Medicine (SGMS/SGSM), Swiss Sports Physiotherapy Association (SSPA).

Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome is an important cause of hip pain in young adults. It can be treated by arthroscopic hip surgery, including reshaping the hip, or with physiotherapist-led conservative care. We aimed to compare the clinical effectiveness of hip arthroscopy with best conservative care. UK FASHIoN is a pragmatic, multicentre, assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial, done at 23 National Health Service hospitals in the UK. We enrolled patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome who presented at these hospitals. Eligible patients were at least 16 years old, had hip pain with radiographic features of cam or pincer morphology but no osteoarthritis, and were believed to be likely to benefit from hip arthroscopy. Patients with bilateral femoroacetabular impingement syndrome were eligible; only the most symptomatic hip was randomly assigned to treatment and followed-up. Participants were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive hip arthroscopy or personalised hip therapy (an individualised, supervised, and progressive physiotherapist-led programme of conservative care). Randomisation was stratified by impingement type and recruiting centre and was done by research staff at each hospital, using a central telephone randomisation service. Patients and treating clinicians were not masked to treatment allocation, but researchers who collected the outcome assessments and analysed the results were masked. The primary outcome was hip-related quality of life, as measured by the patient-reported International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-33) 12 months after randomisation, and analysed in all eligible participants who were allocated to treatment (the intention-to-treat population). This trial is registered as an International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial, number ISRCTN64081839, and is closed to recruitment. Between July 20, 2012, and July 15, 2016, we identified 648 eligible patients and recruited 348 participants: 171 participants were allocated to receive hip arthroscopy and 177 to receive personalised hip therapy. Three further patients were excluded from the trial after randomisation because they did not meet the eligibility criteria. Follow-up at the primary outcome assessment was 92% (319 of 348 participants). At 12 months after randomisation, mean iHOT-33 scores had improved from 39·2 (SD 20·9) to 58·8 (27·2) for participants in the hip arthroscopy group, and from 35·6 (18·2) to 49·7 (25·5) in the personalised hip therapy group. In the primary analysis, the mean difference in iHOT-33 scores, adjusted for impingement type, sex, baseline iHOT-33 score, and centre, was 6·8 (95% CI 1·7-12·0) in favour of hip arthroscopy (p=0·0093). This estimate of treatment effect exceeded the minimum clinically important difference (6·1 points). There were 147 patient-reported adverse events (in 100 [72%] of 138 patients) in the hip arthroscopy group) versus 102 events (in 88 [60%] of 146 patients) in the personalised hip therapy group, with muscle soreness being the most common of these (58 [42%] vs 69 [47%]). There were seven serious adverse events reported by participating hospitals. Five (83%) of six serious adverse events in the hip arthroscopy group were related to treatment, and the one in the personalised hip therapy group was not. There were no treatment-related deaths, but one patient in the hip arthroscopy group developed a hip joint infection after surgery. Hip arthroscopy and personalised hip therapy both improved hip-related quality of life for patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome. Hip arthroscopy led to a greater improvement than did personalised hip therapy, and this difference was clinically significant. Further follow-up will reveal whether the clinical benefits of hip arthroscopy are maintained and whether it is cost effective in the long term. The Health Technology Assessment Programme of the National Institute of Health Research.

Objective To investigate whether surgery by open reduction and internal fixation provides benefit compared with non-operative treatment for displaced, intra-articular calcaneal fractures. Design Pragmatic, multicentre, two arm, parallel group, assessor blinded randomised controlled trial (UK Heel Fracture Trial). Setting 22 tertiary referral hospitals, United Kingdom. Participants 151 patients with acute displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures randomly allocated to operative (n=73) or non-operative (n=78) treatment. Main outcome measures The primary outcome measure was patient reported Kerr-Atkins score for pain and function (scale 0-100, 100 being the best possible score) at two years after injury. Secondary outcomes were complications; hindfoot pain and function (American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society score); general health (SF-36); quality of life (EQ-5D); clinical examination; walking speed; and gait symmetry. Analysis was by intention to treat. Results 95% follow-up was achieved for the primary outcome (69 in operative group and 74 in non-operative group), and a complete set of secondary outcomes were available for 75% of participants. There was no significant difference in the primary outcome (mean Kerr-Atkins score 69.8 in operative group v 65.7 in non-operative group; adjusted 95% confidence interval of difference −7.1 to 7.0) or in any of the secondary outcomes between treatment groups. Complications and reoperations were more common in those who received operative care (estimated odds ratio 7.5, 95% confidence interval 2.0 to 41.8). Conclusions Operative treatment compared with non-operative care showed no symptomatic or functional advantage after two years in patients with typical displaced intra-articular fractures of the calcaneus, and the risk of complications was higher after surgery. Based on these findings, operative treatment by open reduction and internal fixation is not recommended for these fractures. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN37188541.

Background: Microfracture is a proven technique to treat articular cartilage defects in the knee. However, there is little evidence in the literature to confirm the ability of microfracture to produce repair tissue in the hip joint. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the macroscopic and microscopic appearances of repair tissue after microfracture performed at hip arthroscopic surgery for isolated full-thickness acetabular cartilage defects in patients with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: Twenty patients who underwent arthroscopic surgery for FAI had a localized full-thickness acetabular chondral defect treated by microfracture and then underwent a later second-look hip arthroscopic procedure. The size of the full-thickness defect was measured at the primary arthroscopic procedure. A visual assessment of the extent and quality of repair tissue was performed at second-look arthroscopic surgery. Two patients also had a biopsy of the repair tissue, which was studied histologically. Results: At an average follow-up of 17 months, 19 of the 20 patients had a mean fill of 96% ± 7% with macroscopically good quality repair tissue. One patient had only a 25% fill with poor quality repair tissue. Histologically, the tissue was found to be primarily fibrocartilage with some staining for type II collagen in the region closest to the bone. Conclusion: Microfracture in the hip appears to be an effective technique that produces excellent coverage of the defect with good quality repair tissue on visual inspection and microscopic examination at an average follow-up of 17 months.