Management of a large acetabular chondrolabral injury in a young patient with femoroacetabular impingement.

Patients with mixed-type femoroacetabular impingement syndrome often have concomitant chondrolabral pathology in addition to the characteristic cam and pincer lesions. Unfortunately, these patients are typically young, and the pathology is localized to the weight-bearing dome of the acetabulum. Complete preoperative characterization of labral and cartilage lesions is often not possible even with advanced imaging techniques, and the full extent of the injury may not be appreciated without direct arthroscopic visualization. Thus management decisions regarding intra-articular pathology may not be possible until the time of surgery. Often, the cartilage and labral pathology in these young patients is part of a contiguous complex of tissue that separates from the underlying subchondral bone. We present an arthroscopic management technique for young patients with this pattern of injury. This includes limited debridement of loose labral and chondral tissue, labral repair to restore the suction-seal effect, microfracture to promote reparative tissue formation, and takedown of the underlying pathoanatomic cam and pincer lesions.