Atrapamiento femoroacetabular

Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is a clinical and radiological syndrome resulting from repetitive abutment between the acetabular rim and the femur. This syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis of hip pain, especially in the young. The most important imaging technique for suspected FAI is standard radiology, but the gold-standard for diagnosis is arthro-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The cornerstone of treatment is surgery but outcome depends on several factors such as physical activity, FAI type, disease duration, surgical technique and, especially, whether the cartilage is damaged. For non-prosthetic surgical treatment to be effective, early diagnosis of FAI is essential. Late diagnosis, when hip osteoarthritis is already present, limits surgery to hip replacement.