Prevalence of hip femoroacetabular impingement deformities in high-level (La Liga) male professional football players

Abstract

[Abstract]: Background Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is considered one of the main causes of hip osteoarthritis in young adults, especially in athletes. In recent years, morphological changes in FAI in the hip have been linked to early and intense sports participation, but studying top-level athlete samples is not easy. This paper presents the prevalence of FAI radiological markers in 120 active white male professional football players in the Spanish First Division League (La Liga) and compares the morphological changes with those of a control group of healthy individu‑ als without signifcant sport activity. Methods The precontract medical evaluation hip X-rays of 120 white male professional football players from four diferent First Division Spanish football teams were prospectively fled and retrospectively reviewed by a dedicated skeletal radiologist. The footballers’ hip X-rays were compared with those of a control group of 80 healthy individuals (age-sex matched) without signifcant sport activity (obtained from routine work medical checks). Results The femoral head-neck deformity associated with the Cam type of femoroacetabular impingement was observed in 61.6% of professional football players and only in 11.6% of the control group (p <0.01). The presence of“herniation pit” (11.6%) and os acetabuli (13.3%) also reached statistical signifcance in the professional football play‑ ers group. In the other analyzed parameters, no statistically signifcant diferences between the groups were observed. Conclusions White professional top-level football players have an increased incidence of abnormal lateral epiphyseal extension ("pistol grip deformity"), os acetabuli and herniation pits