National trends of hip arthroscopy in Korea

Hip arthroscopy has been reported to be useful and promising for the treatment of hip pathologies. However, it is not known whether the utilization of hip arthroscopy has increased in Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate national trends regarding the utilization of hip arthroscopy in Korea. We retrospectively reviewed nationwide data obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). All new admissions for hip arthroscopy are recorded nationwide by HIRA using the ICD-10 code and the code for arthroscopic devices. Using archived data, we determined the trends in utilization of hip arthroscopy between 2007 and 2010. The number of hip arthroscopies increased more than twofold over the study period, from 596 to 1,262. A third of cases were performed in hospitals. Furthermore, a bimodal distribution was observed for men (20 to 24 yr and 45 to 49 yr) and an unimodal distribution for women (50 to 54 yr). Our results show an increasing trends in the utilization of hip arthroscopy from 2007 to 2010, which is in-line with recent findings of increased utilization with the rest of the world.