Mechanical Strength of the Proximal Femur After Arthroscopic Osteochondroplasty for Femoroacetabular Impingement: Finite Element Analysis and 3-Dimensional Image Analysis.

PURPOSE: To examine the influence of femoral neck resection on the mechanical strength of the proximal femur in actual surgery.

METHODS: Eighteen subjects who received arthroscopic cam resection for cam-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) were included. Finite element analyses (FEAs) were performed to calculate changes in simulative fracture load between pre- and postoperative femur models. The finite element femur models were constructed from computed tomographic images; thus, the models represented the shape of the original femur, including the bone resection site. Three-dimensional image analysis of the bone resection site was performed to identify morphometric factors that affect strength in the postoperative femur model. Four oblique sagittal planes running perpendicular to the femoral neck axis were used as reference planes to measure the bone resection site.

RESULTS: At the transcervical reference plane, both the bone resection depth and the cross-sectional area at the resection site correlated strongly with postoperative changes in the simulated fracture load (R2  = 0.6, P = .0001). However, only resection depth was significantly correlated with the simulated fracture load at the reference plane for the head-neck junction. The resected bone volume did not correlate with the postoperative changes in the simulated fracture load.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of our FEA suggest that the bone resection depth measured at the head-neck junction and transcervical reference plane correlates with fracture risk after osteochondroplasty. By contrast, bone resection at more proximal areas did not have a significant effect on the postoperative femur model strength in our FEA. The total volume of resected bone was also not significantly correlated with postoperative changes in femur model strength.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This biomechanical study using FEA suggest that there is a risk of femoral neck fracture after arthroscopic cam resection, particularly when the resected lesion is located distally.