Study Identifies Patients Who Should Not Undergo Surgery for Snapping Psoas Tendon

OrthoSuperSite—August 15, 2011

Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a group of patients who may not respond favorably to surgery for a snapping psoas tendon, according to a study presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

“The conclusion from this study is that you should be cautious about releasing the psoas tendon, particularly in cases where there is some structural instability in the hip, specifically decreased femoral anteversion, because although the tendon may be causing pain, it is also providing some dynamic support to the hip so it can cause problems if it is released,” study author Bryan T. Kelly, MD, stated in a HSS release.

The study authors investigated 67 patients who underwent arthroscopic lengthening of a symptomatic psoas tendon.

“The results of this study indicate that there are certain groups of patients that respond very favorably to surgical treatment of the psoas tendon; but there are other groups of patients, who due to mechanical reasons, surgeons should exercise extreme caution in proceeding with any tendon release around the hip,” Kelly stated.

This story originally appeared at orthosupersite.com.

Read the press release at HSS.com.