Periacetabular Osteotomy Improves Pain and Function in Patients With Lateral Center-edge Angle Between 18° and 25°, but Are These Hips Really Borderline Dysplastic?

Background The treatment of mild or borderline acetabular dysplasia is controversial with surgical options including both arthroscopic labral repair with capsular closure or plication and periacetabular osteotomy (PAO). The degree to which improvements in pain and function might be achieved using these approaches may be a function of acetabular morphology and the severity of the dysplasia, but detailed radiographic assessments of acetabular morphology in patients with a lateral center-edge angle (LCEA) of 18° to 25° who have undergone PAO have not, to our knowledge, been performed.

Questions/purposes (1) Do patients with an LCEA of 18° to 25° undergoing PAO have other radiographic features of dysplasia suggestive of abnormal femoral head coverage by the acetabulum? (2) What is the survivorship free from revision surgery, THA, or severe pain (modified Harris hip score [mHHS] < 70) and proportion of complications as defined by the modified Dindo-Clavien severity scale at minimum 2-year followup? (3) What are the functional patient-reported outcome measures in this cohort at minimum 2 years after surgery as assessed by the UCLA Activity Score, the mHHS, the Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), and the SF-12 mental and physical domain scores?

Methods Between January 2010 and December 2014, a total of 91 patients with hip pain and LCEA of 18° to 25° underwent a hip preservation surgical procedure at our institution. Thirty-six (40%) of the 91 patients underwent hip arthroscopy, and 56 hips (60%) were treated by PAO. In general, patients were considered for hip arthroscopy when symptoms were predominantly associated with femoroacetabular impingement (that is, pain aggravated by sitting and hip flexion activities) and physical examination showed a positive anterior impingement test with negative signs of instability (negative anterior apprehension test). In general, patients were considered for PAO when symptoms suggested instability (that is, pain with upright activities, abductor fatigue now aggravated by sitting) and clinical examinations demonstrated a positive anterior apprehension test. Bilateral surgery was performed in six patients and only the first hip was included in the study. One patient was excluded because PAO was performed to address dysplasia caused by surgical excision of a proximal femoral tumor associated with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia during childhood yielding a total of 49 patients (49 hips). There were 46 of 49 females (94%), the mean age was 26.5 years (± 8), and the mean body mass index was 24 kg/m² (± 4.5). Radiographic analysis of preoperative films included the LCEA, Tönnis acetabular roof angle, the anterior center-edge angle, the anterior and posterior wall indices, and the Femoral Epiphyseal Acetabular Roof index. Thirty-nine of the 49 patients (80%) were followed for a minimum 2-year followup (mean, 2.2 years; range, 2-4 years) and were included in the analysis of survivorship after PAO, complications, and functional outcomes. Kaplan-Meier modeling was used to calculate survivorship defined as free from revision surgery, THA, or severe pain (mHHS < 70) at minimum 2 years after surgery. Complications were graded according to the modified Dindo-Clavien severity. Patient-reported outcomes were collected preoperatively and at minimum 2 years after surgery and included the UCLA Activity Score, the mHHS, the HOOS, and the SF-12 mental and physical domain scores.

Results Forty-six of 49 hips (94%) had at least one other radiographic feature of dysplasia suggestive of abnormal femoral head coverage by the acetabulum. Seventy-three percent of the hips (36 of 49) had two or more radiographic features of hip dysplasia aside from a LCEA of 18° to 25°. The survivorship of PAO at minimum 2 years for the 39 of 49 (80%) patients available was 94% (95% confidence interval, 80%-90%). Three of 39 patients (8%) developed a complication. At a mean of 2.2 years of followup, there was improvement in level of activity (preoperative UCLA score 7 ± 2 versus postoperative UCLA score 6 ± 2; p = 0.02). Hip symptoms and function improved postoperatively, as reflected by a higher mean mHHS (86 ± 13 versus 64 ± 19; p < 0.001) and mean HOOS (386 ± 128 versus 261 ± 117; p < 0.001). Quality of life and overall health assessed by the physical domain of the SF-12 improved (47 ± 11 versus 39 ± 12; p < 0.001). However, with the numbers available, no improvement was observed for the mental domain of the SF-12 (52 ± 8 versus 51 ± 11; p = 0.881).

Conclusions Hips with LCEA of 18° to 25° frequently have other radiographic features of dysplasia suggestive of abnormal femoral head coverage by the acetabulum. These hips may be inappropriately labeled as “borderline” or “mild” dysplasia on consideration of LCEA alone. A more comprehensive imaging analysis in these hips by the radiographic features of dysplasia included in this study is recommended to identify hips with abnormal coverage of the femoral head by the acetabulum and to plan treatment accordingly. Patients with LCEA of 18° to 25° showed improvement in hip pain and function after PAO with minimal complications and low proportions of persistent pain or reoperations at short-term followup. Future studies are recommended to investigate whether the benefits of symptomatic and functional improvement are sustained long term.

Level of Evidence Level IV, therapeutic study.