Short to mid-term outcome of total hip arthroplasty with cementless implants in patients younger than 25 years old.

BACKGROUND

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) was once reserved for old patients with hip arthritis but has become more common in very young patients (≤25 years old) diagnosed with various joint disease that were not relieved with conservative treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate short to mid-term outcome of THA in patients younger than 25 years old.

METHOD: This retrospective study included 45 patients younger than 25 years (mean age 21.8 ± 2.14 years) who underwent THA. The surgical indications, implant selection, leg length discrepancy, medication history, radiographic outcome, survival and clinical results including the modified Harris hip score (mHHS) and SF-36 score were assessed.

RESULT: The mean follow-up period recorded for patients was 7.82 years (range 5-12 years). The most common diagnosis was avascular necrosis (37.7%) followed by ankylosing spondylitis (24.4%), developmental dysplasia of the hip (17.7%) and rheumatoid arthritis (8.8%). The preoperative leg length discrepancy (LLD), which ranged from 0.5-7 cm significantly improved after surgery ranging from 0-1 cm. The mean preoperative mHHS was 32.44 ± 18.90 compared with the postoperative score of 94.54 ± 5.81 (p < 0.001). The preoperative p-value of SF-36 was lower compared to the postoperative value in all subgroups of SF-36 (p < 0.001). At the latest follow-up there were no radiological signs of loosening and all the implants were classified as well-integrated.

CONCLUSION

At present total hip arthroplasty is considered to be safe and a good solution for young patients below 25 years suffering from end-stage joint disease; however, longer follow-up is required to evaluate the long-term function and outcome of the prosthesis in order to restore the normal lifestyle of the patients.