Treatment Options for End-Stage Hip Disease in Adolescents: To Replace, Fuse, or Reconstruct?

This paper aims to review the indications criteria for the surgical treatment of adolescents with hip osteoarthritis and summarize the contemporary techniques that orthopaedic surgeons can apply for hip reconstruction.

Hip osteoarthritis remains a concerning burden to North American society. While the rate of total hip replacement (THR) in younger patients has increased in the last decades, younger patients may have a higher risk of revision hip replacement because of their increased level of activity and expected patient longevity compared with the elderly. Increased demand for multiple revision surgeries is a concern for the adolescent patient. Although in general THR has been increasingly recommended for the treatment of end-stage osteoarthritis secondary to pediatric hip disorders, hip arthrodesis remains a beneficial alternative for the treatment of severe hip disease secondary to infection and for patients who desire to engage in a very active lifestyle. Hip preservation procedures are ideally performed in the prearthritic stage or in hips with minimal degeneration to preserve the joint and achieve the most optimal outcomes. However, adolescents and young adults with moderate and rarely advanced arthritis may benefit from surgical treatment using hip preservation techniques.

Treatment of adolescents with pain and dysfunction because of end-stage hip disease is challenging and controversial. THR and arthrodesis are the 2 principal alternatives. However, in particular circumstances, hip reconstruction may be recommended.