Staged Hip Arthroscopy and Periacetabular Osteotomy in Active Patients 45 Years and Older Produces Comparable Improvements in Outcome Scores to Younger Patients.

Purpose: To determine staged hip arthroscopy and periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) mid-term outcomes in active patients aged 45 years and older compared with a younger group.

Materials and methods: All patients aged ≥45 years old who underwent staged arthroscopy and PAO between 2015 and 2021 were retrospectively analyzed and compared to a case-matched control of younger patients. All patients underwent at least 6 months of non-operative management prior to surgery. Prior to PAO, all patients underwent hip arthroscopy to address any intra-articular pathology. The experimental group consisted of dysplastic patients >45 years of age without significant osteoarthritis who underwent PAO and reported a minimum of 1-year postoperative PROs. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) were quantified using the International Hip Outcomes Tool (iHOT-12) and Non-Arthritic Hip Score (NAHS).

Results: The cohort consisted of 35 patients (44 hips) with a mean age of 49.4 ± 3.8 years. The lateral center edge angle significantly improved from preoperatively (20.1 ± 4.5 degrees) to postoperatively (33.2 ± 3.2 degrees) (p<0.001). Mean follow up in the PAO ≥45 cohort was 2.80 (±1.3) years postoperatively. Patients reported significant improvement of iHOT-12 (preoperative: 36.6 ± 14.1, latest follow-up: 81.2 ± 21.0; p<0.001) and NAHS scores (preoperative: 59.2 ± 15.5, latest follow-up: 87.4 ± 13.1; p<0.001). Compared to the control, the older cohort did not report significantly different iHOT-12 scores between groups at any point, and age did not significantly affect either outcome score (p>0.05).

Conclusions: Patients ≥45 years of age reported a statistically significant improvement in hip function and pain following staged hip arthroscopy and PAO, with outcome scores comparable to a younger cohort. Our findings demonstrate that appropriately selected older dysplastic patients without significant preexisting hip osteoarthritis experience clinically meaningful improvements in hip pain and function following hip preservation surgery.

Level of evidence: III, retrospective comparative case series.