What Are the Costs of Hip Osteoarthritis in the Year Prior to a Total Hip Arthroplasty?

BackgroundThe majority of the cost analysis literature on total hip arthroplasties (THAs) has been focused around the perioperative and postoperative period, with preoperative costs being overlooked.MethodsThe Humana Administrative Claims database was used to identify Medicare Advantage (MA) and Commercial beneficiaries undergoing elective primary THAs. Preoperative healthcare resource utilization in the year prior to a THA was grouped into the following categories: office visits, X-rays, magnetic resonance imagings, computed tomography scans, intra-articular steroid and hyaluronic acid injections, physical therapy, and pain medications. Total 1-year costs and per-patient average reimbursements for each category have been reported.ResultsTotal 1-year preoperative costs amounted to $21,022,883 (average = $512/patient) and $4,481,401 (average = $764/patient) for MA and Commercial beneficiaries, respectively. The largest proportion of total 1-year costs was accounted for by office visits (35% in Commercial; 41% in MA) followed by pain medications (28% in Commercial; 35% in MA). Conservative treatments (steroid injections, hyaluronic acid injections, physical therapy, and pain medications) alone accounted for 40%-44% of the total 1-year costs prior to a THA. A high healthcare utilization within the last 3 months prior to surgery was noted for opioids and steroid injections.ConclusionOn average, $500-$800/patient is spent on hip osteoarthritis-related care in the year prior to a THA. Despite their potential risks, opioids and steroid injections are often utilized in the last 3 months prior to surgery.     

What is the Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Total Hip Arthroplasty?

MRI has been shown to be an extremely effective instrument in the management of painful hip arthroplasty. Its superior soft tissue contrast and direct multiplanar acquisition compared to computerized tomography (CT) and radiographs allows for reproducible visualization of periacetabular osteolysis, demonstrating compression of neurovascular bundles by extracapsular synovial deposits. In addition, MRI can often elucidate etiology of neuropathy in the perioperative period and is further helpful in evaluating the soft tissue envelope, including the attachment of the hip abductors, short external rotators and iliopsoas tendon. A further advantage of MRI over CT is its lack of ionizing radiation. Most importantly, MRI can disclose intracapsular synovial deposits that precede osteoclastic resorption of bone.     

What Are the Results of Surgical Treatment of Hip Dysplasia With Concomitant Cam Deformity?

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® - Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is a reliable procedure to correct the deficient acetabular coverage in hips with developmental dysplasia. It is...     

Does Patient-specific Functional Pelvic Tilt Affect Joint Contact Pressure in Hip Dysplasia? A Finite-element Analysis Study

BackgroundAlthough individual and postural variations in the physiologic pelvic tilt affect the acetabular orientation and coverage in patients with hip dysplasia, their effect on the mechanical environment in the hip has not been fully understood. Individual-specific, finite-element analyses that account for physiologic pelvic tilt may provide valuable insight into the contact mechanics of dysplastic hips, which can lead to further understanding of the pathogenesis and improved treatment of this patient population.Question/purposeWe used finite-element analysis to ask whether there are differences between patients with hip dysplasia and patients without dysplasia in terms of (1) physiologic pelvic tilt, (2) the pelvic position and joint contact pressure, and (3) the morphologic factors associated with joint contact pressure.MethodsBetween 2016 and 2019, 82 patients underwent pelvic osteotomy to treat hip dysplasia. Seventy patients with hip dysplasia (lateral center-edge angle ≥ 0° and < 20° on supine AP pelvic radiographs) were included. Patients with advanced osteoarthritis, femoral head deformity, prior hip or supine surgery, or poor-quality imaging were excluded. Thirty-two patients (32 hips) were eligible to this finite-element analysis study. For control groups, we reviewed 33 female volunteers without a history of hip disease. Individuals with frank or borderline hip dysplasia (lateral center-edge angle < 25°) or poor-quality imaging were excluded. Sixteen individuals (16 hips) were eligible as controls. Two board-certified orthopaedic surgeons measured sagittal pelvic tilt (the angle between the anterior pelvic plane and vertical axis: anterior pelvic plane [APP] angle) and acetabular version and coverage using pelvic radiographs and CT images. Intra- and interobserver reliabilities, evaluated using the kappa value and intraclass correlation coefficient, were good or excellent. We developed individual-specific, finite-element models using pelvic CT images, and performed nonlinear contact analysis to calculate the joint contact pressure on the acetabular cartilage during the single-leg stance with respect to three pelvic positions: standardized (anterior pelvic plane), supine, and standing. We compared physiologic pelvic tilt between patients with and without dysplasia using a t-test or the Wilcoxon rank sum test. A paired t-test or the Wilcoxon signed rank test with a Bonferroni correction was used to compare joint contact pressure between the three pelvic positions. We correlated joint contact pressure with morphologic parameters and pelvic tilt using the Pearson or the Spearman correlation coefficients.ResultsThe APP angle in the supine and standing positions varied widely among individuals. It was greater in patients with hip dysplasia than in patients in the control group when in the standing position (3° ± 6° versus -2° ± 8°; mean difference 5° [95% CI 1° to 9°]; p = 0.02) but did not differ between the two groups when supine (8° ± 5° versus 5° ± 7°; mean difference 3° [95% CI 0° to 7°]; p = 0.06). The mean pelvic tilt was 6° ± 5° posteriorly when shifting from the supine to the standing position in patients with hip dysplasia. The median (range) maximum contact pressure was higher in dysplastic hips than in control individuals (in standing position; 7.3 megapascals [MPa] [4.1 to 14] versus 3.5 MPa [2.2 to 4.4]; difference of medians 3.8 MPa; p < 0.001). The median maximum contact pressure in the standing pelvic position was greater than that in the supine position in patients with hip dysplasia (7.3 MPa [4.1to 14] versus 5.8 MPa [3.5 to 12]; difference of medians 1.5 MPa; p < 0.001). Although the median maximum joint contact pressure in the standardized pelvic position did not differ from that in the standing position (7.4 MPa [4.3 to 15] versus 7.3 MPa [4.1 to 14]; difference of medians -0.1 MPa; p > 0.99), the difference in the maximum contact pressure varied from -3.3 MPa to 2.9 MPa, reflecting the wide range of APP angles (mean 3° ± 6° [-11° to 14°]) when standing. The maximum joint contact pressure in the standing position was negatively correlated with the standing APP angle (r = -0.46; p = 0.008) in patients with hip dysplasia.ConclusionBased on our findings that individual and postural variations in the physiologic pelvic tilt affect joint contact pressure in the hip, future studies on the pathogenesis of hip dysplasia and joint preservation surgery should not only include the supine or standard pelvic position, but also they need to incorporate the effect of the patient-specific pelvic tilt in the standing position on the biomechanical environment of the hip.Clinical RelevanceWe recommend assessing postural change in sagittal pelvic tilt when diagnosing hip dysplasia and planning preservation hip surgery because assessment in a supine or standard pelvic position may overlook alterations in the hip’s contact mechanics in the weightbearing positions. Further studies are needed to elucidate the effect of patient-specific functional pelvic tilt on the degeneration process of dysplastic hips, the acetabular reorientation maneuver, and the clinical result of joint preservation surgery.     

What Is the Impact of Advancing Age on the Outcomes of Total Hip Arthroplasty?

Background

The global demand for total hip arthroplasty (THA) is increasing, underscoring its moniker as the “operation of the century.” However, debate still exists as to whether the elderly who undergo the operation achieve the same outcomes as those younger. In this study, we sought to investigate the association between older age and the risks and benefits of THA.