What Is the Impact of Periacetabular Osteotomy Surgery on Patient Function and Activity Levels?

Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is a hip preserving procedure performed often in younger, highly active patients. However, counseling patients is difficult, as there are limited data regarding activity level after PAO. The purpose of this study is to analyze the physical activity levels after PAO in a large, prospective multicenter cohort.

Prospectively collected data from a multicenter study group included 359 hips treated by PAO for hip dysplasia at a mean age of 25.1 years. Patient demographics, radiographic measures, operative data, and clinical outcomes were evaluated preoperatively, at 1 year, and at minimum 2 years postoperatively. Activity level was assessed with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score, and patients were stratified into low activity, moderate activity, and high activity groups based on preoperative function.

Compared to preoperative scores across the complete cohort, postoperative UCLA scores were improved on average 0.6 points at final follow-up (P = .001). The low activity and moderate activity groups had significant improvement in UCLA scores (P < .001 and P = .0007, respectively), while the high activity groups saw a significant decrease in UCLA activity scores (P < .0001). Modified Harris Hip Score, Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Score Pain, and Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Score Sports and Recreation scores were significantly improved across all preoperative activity levels. Multivariable linear regression (r² = 0.45) confirmed prior ipsilateral surgery as a predictor for change in UCLA score (P = .002).

Overall, these data suggest that consistent improvements in activity level and function can be expected following PAO surgery, with greater gains experienced by patients with lower preoperative levels of activity.