Differences in Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Between Primary and Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty: Realistic...

Primary total hip arthroplasty (pTHA) and revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) are not often compared in terms of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). However, surgeons and patients need to better understand the differences in PROMs between primary and revision surgery to set realistic patient expectations and recovery milestones. A matched cohort study of pTHA to rTHA was performed with our arthroplasty database of a single surgeon's experience from 2012 to 2018. There was a significant difference in both pre-operative assessment and change from preoperative to postoperative assessment of the PROMs. Patients undergoing pTHA had higher visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores (67.9 vs 57.9, P=.004). Those undergoing rTHA had higher Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) (57.1 vs 50.1, P=.008) and Veterans RAND 12 Item Health Survey (VR-12) (33.5 vs 33.1, P=.01) scores. However, a significant change was noted in the difference from preoperative to postoperative scores between the pTHA and rTHA groups: Harris Hip Score (HHS) total score (pTHA 30.7 vs rTHA 4.4, P<.001), WOMAC score (pTHA 29.3 vs rTHA 12.2, P<.001), and VAS pain score (pTHA -48.3 vs rTHA -26.5, P<.001) as well as groin pain (pTHA 1.4% vs rTHA 7.1%, P=.02). Further, PROMs after rTHA were inferior to those after pTHA with several outcome instruments, including HHS, WOMAC score, and VAS pain score. In addition, groin pain was significantly greater in the rTHA cohort compared with the pTHA cohort at the latest follow-up. This study allows surgeons and patients to better understand the differences in PROMs to set realistic patient expectations and recovery milestones. [Orthopedics. 2022;45(4):251-255.].