Rate of Return to Work After Periacetabular Osteotomy and Its Influencing Factors

Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) has been reported as a treatment for patients with symptomatic developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). Several studies have investigated the rate of return to sports activities after PAO, but few studies have evaluated the rate of return to work. In the present study, we aimed to identify the rate of return to work at 1 year after PAO and its affecting factors.

We retrospectively evaluated 83 patients (85 hips) with symptomatic DDH who had undergone PAO between December 2015 and June 2020. Patients who had returned to work at 1 year after PAO were classified into the returnee group, and those who had not were classified into the non-returnee group. The returnee group included patients who could return to their original job (original) or to a different job (non-original). The non-returnee group included patients who could not return to work because of hip symptoms (hip) and those who did not return for reasons other than hip symptoms (non-hip). We analyzed clinical parameters, including the Harris hip score, Japanese Orthopaedic Association Hip Disease Evaluation Questionnaire, 36-Item Short Form Survey, and radiographic parameters, as well as the type of work.

Sixty-eight patients (70 hips; 82.4%) returned to work at 1 year after PAO (returnee group), and 15 patients (15 hips; 17.6%) were in the non-returnee group. Among the 15 patients in the non-returnee group, 7 were classified into the non-hip subgroup and 8 were classified into the hip subgroup. No significant differences were observed between the returnee group and the hip subgroup in terms of clinical parameters or type of work.

One year after PAO, 8 patients (8 hips; 9.4%) could not return to work because of hip symptoms; both clinical parameters and the type of work showed no direct relationship with postoperative working status.

Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.