Complications Following Direct Anterior Hip Procedures: Costs to Both Patients and Surgeons

A systematic review of the literature on clinical outcomes following direct anterior approach (DAA) hip arthroplasty was performed. An aggregated 11,810 hip procedures were analyzed for intraoperative and early postoperative complications. The most common complication following DAA hip arthroplasty was nerve dysfunction (2.8%) followed by intraoperative fractures (2.3%). Postoperative dislocation, wound complications, and revision THA within the first 12 months were reported in 1.2% of cases. Thus, while DAA hip arthroplasty can be successfully performed, it is not without complications. Without definitive evidence of clinical superiority, surgeons considering switching to DAA should benchmark their personal complication rates against published reports.