Twenty patients underwent operative arthroscopic procedures of the hip
joint. All procedures mere performed with the patient in the supine p
osition on a standard fracture table using fluoroscopy through three a
rthroscopic portals (anterolateral, anterior paratrochanteric, and pos
terior paratrochanteric), The initial indications were therapeutic in
16 patients: loose bodies in four, synovial chondromatosis in three, r
heumatoid arthritis in five, ankylosing spondylitis in one, septic art
hritis in one, avascular necrosis of femoral head in one, and primary
osteoarthritis in one. In four patients who had unexplained hip pain,
the initial indications were diagnostic: minimal synovial change was s
een in two patients, a synovial chondromatosis was present in another,
and a tear of the acetabular labrum and hypertrophy of ligament teres
were present in a fourth patient. In one patient who had primary oste
oarthritis, the insertion of the arthroscopic instrument into the hip
joint failed because of profuse osteophytes along the acetabular rim.
Twelve of the 19 patients showed significant improvement of the sympto
ms after the arthroscopic procedure, but seven patients had no benefit
from the procedure. One patient had a postoperative reflex sympatheti
c dystrophy.