Abstract / Summary
Objectives: Because of the focus on throwing in baseball, a high volume of research has been dedicated to upper extremity injuries; however, research has suggested that approximately 30% of all injuries in professional baseball involve the lower extremity. Within that cohort, players with hip injuries spent the most time on the disabled list. This study aims to summarize the existing evidence regarding the return to sport after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement in baseball players across all levels of play to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of intra-articular hip pathology on baseball players returning to sport. Material and Methods: Current literature was reviewed, and Medline, PubMed Central, Embase, and Web of Science were searched from their inception until July 2024 using terms such as “hip arthroscopy”, “baseball”, “Major League Baseball,” and “FAI,”. Abstracts were screened for articles that included baseball players who underwent arthroscopic hip surgery and reported return to sport data. 665 individual records were screened and 11 met inclusion criteria. Results: The median rate of return to baseball amongst studies was 88.4%. Levels of competition included recreational, high school (varsity), club, NCAA, minor leagues, and MLB. 45% (5/11) of studies defined “return to sport” as “playing in at least 1 game”. The average time to return to baseball was 7.9 months. Conclusion: Baseball players from all levels of play were reliably able to return to sport following hip arthroscopy. Future projects should focus on standardizing definitions of returning to sport and capturing data on athletes of all levels.