Clinical outcomes after hip arthroscopy in patients over 60 years of age: a minimum two-year follow-up

The purpose of this article, published in the American journal “Arhtroscopy”, was to examine the clinical outcomes and survivorship in patients over 60 years of age who underwent hip arthroscopy for the management of joint pain.
Data were collected prospectively on patients over 60 years of age who underwent hip arthroscopy. All the patients had an indication for hip arthroscopy on the basis of the standard preoperative examination and of standard and specialised imaging. Demographic data, diagnoses and details of the patients’ operations were collected. The modified Harris Hip Score and Non-arthritic Hip score hip outcome scores were used for assessment, and the results were compared two years postoperatively. Survivorship was assessed by determining failure rates, failure being defined as any subsequent revision hip arthroscopy or total hip arthroplasty.
Forty-two patients met the inclusion criteria for the study. The mean age was 65.8 years and the mean body mass index was 26.1. Survivorship at one and two years was 95.2% and 88.9% respectively.
The authors concluded that in patients over 60 years of age with Tonnis grade 0 or 1 osteoarthritic changes on the initial radiograph, hip arthroscopy can lead to a reliable improvement in early outcomes. As the use of hip arthroscopy for the treatment of mechanical pain increases, further studies with longer-term results are needed.
Source: “Arthroscopy”, August 2016