Hip Arthroscopy in Patients Ages 50 Years or Older: Minimum 5-Year Outcomes, Survivorship, and Risk Factors for Conversion to Total Hip Replacement.

PURPOSE: To report minimum 5-year outcomes and risk factors for conversion to total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients ≥50 years old undergoing hip arthroscopy to treat labral tears and femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).

METHODS

Data were prospectively collected on patients who underwent hip arthroscopy to treat labral tears and FAI between February 2008 and January 2012. The inclusion criteria were ≥50 years old at surgery, arthroscopic treatment for both labral tears and FAI, and preoperative patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores for modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Nonarthritic Hip Score (NAHS), Hip Outcome Score-Sports Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The exclusion criteria were Tönnis grade > 1 and previous hip conditions or surgeries.

RESULTS

Of 103 eligible cases, 94 hips (91.3%) had minimum 5-year follow-up at a mean of 70.1 months (range, 60.0-95.1 months). All PROs and VASs demonstrated significant improvement at latest follow-up (P = .0001). Mean patient satisfaction was 8.4. All mean scores demonstrated durability from 2 years to latest follow-up, and NAHS (P = .009), HOS-SSS (P = .02), and VAS (P = .04) continued to significantly improve. Fifty-one (54.3%) of cases reached patient acceptable symptomatic state for mHHS, and 49 cases (52.1%) achieved minimal clinically important difference for this outcome measure. Four cases (4.3%) required secondary arthroscopy, and survivorship was 72.3%. Compared with survivors, the subgroup requiring THA demonstrated higher body mass indexes (P = .01), had larger alpha angles (P = .0200) and smaller lateral center-edge angles (P = .0200), and had higher proportions of Tönnis grade 1 (P = .0012), acetabular Outerbridge grade ≥ 2 (P = .0500), and femoral head Outerbridge grade ≥2 (P = .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Hip arthroscopy for the treatment of labral tears and FAI in patients ≥50 years old demonstrates statistically significant PRO improvements at minimum 5-year follow-up. However, due to potential for subsequent need for THA in a subset of this population, surgeons should use rigorous selection criteria and counsel patients appropriately.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, case series.