Does high level youth sports participation increase the risk of femoroacetabular impingement? A review of the current literature

Viran de Silva, Michael Swain, Carolyn Broderick, Damien McKay

Sports participation can be an integral part of adolescent development with numerous positive short and long-term effects. Despite these potential benefits very high levels of physical activity, during skeletal maturation, have been proposed as a possible cause of cam-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). The influence of physical activity on the developing physis has been previously described both in animal studies and epidemiological studies of adolescent athletes. It is therefore important to determine whether the development of FAI is secondary to excessive physical activity or a combination of a vulnerable physis and a set level of physical activity. A review of the current literature suggests that adolescent males participating in ice-hockey, basketball and soccer, training at least three times a week, are at greater risk than their non-athletic counterparts of developing the femoral head-neck deformity associated with femoroacetabular impingement.