Effect of Anchor Density on Functional Outcomes After Arthroscopic Hip Labral Repair

While labral repair has been widely adopted as the first line treatment for labral injury during hip arthroscopy, there is no widespread consensus on the procedural technique, including the number of anchors that should be used to avoid recurrent instability and revision surgery.

To determine if anchor density can predict patient-reported outcomes after arthroscopic labral repair in the hip.

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Patients aged 18 to 50 years who underwent primary hip arthroscopic surgery with labral repair between January 2011 and December 2016 were identified from a prospectively collected database. Exclusion criteria consisted of previous ipsilateral surgery, osteoarthritis (Tönnis grade >1), and severe cartilage defects (Outerbridge grade III/IV) or concomitant labral reconstruction, capsular reconstruction, or microfracture. Minimum 2-year patient-reported outcomes (modified Harris Hip Score [mHHS], Hip Outcome Score [HOS]-Activities of Daily Living [ADL], HOS-Sport Specific Subscale [SSS], 12-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-12]), rates of achieving the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) for each score, revision surgery rate, and rate of conversion to total hip arthroplasty (THA) were compared based on anchor density (number of anchors per millimeter of labral tear).

A total of 634 hips (575 patients) with a mean age of 30.4 ± 9.5 years (range, 18.0-49.9 years) met inclusion criteria. The mean labral tear size was 31 ± 11 mm (range, 2-70 mm) with a median number of anchors used for labral repair of 3 (range, 1-7) and mean anchor density of 0.11 ± 0.08 anchors (range, 0.03-1.33) per millimeter of labral tear. Hips with a minimum 2-year follow-up (451/634 [71.1%]) had significant improvements on the mHHS, HOS-ADL, HOS-SSS, and SF-12 Physical Component Summary (P < .001 for all). There was no significant correlation detected between anchor density or number of anchors used and postoperative scores (correlation coefficient range, -0.05 to 0.17; P > .05 for all). The rate of revision surgery was 6.4% (28 patients), with 8 hips found to have labral tears and/or deficiency on revision. Additionally, 6 hips (1.3%) had to undergo THA at a mean of 3.6 ± 2.1 years (range, 2.0-5.5 years).

Anchor density did not have a correlation with postoperative outcomes, achieving the MCID or PASS, revision hip arthroscopic surgery, complications, or conversion to THA.