Increased dislocation rates following total hip arthroplasty in patients with ankylosing spondylitis

Patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) experience abnormal spinopelvic motion due to chronic inflammation of the axial skeleton, predisposing them to impingement and dislocation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate total hip arthroplasty (THA) dislocation rates in AS patients and evaluate the effects of age and gender on dislocation risk.

Patients who underwent primary THA from 2005 to 2014 were identified using the PearlDiver database. AS patients were compared to age- and gender-matched controls without AS. Patients with a history of spine pathology or spine surgery were excluded. Univariate analyses were performed based on age and sex to evaluate dislocation rates at 90 days, 6 months, 1 year, and 5 years postoperatively.

A total of 2792 THA patients (59.6% male) with AS were identified and compared to an age- and gender-matched control group of 5582 THA patients (59.5% male) without AS or known spine pathology. At final follow-up, there were 96 dislocations (3.4%) in the AS group and 138 (2.5%) dislocations in the control group (OR 1.40; 95% CI, 1.08-1.83; p = 0.0118). AS patients ⩾70 years old had higher dislocation rates at all time points (OR range, 1.75-2.09; p < 0.05) compared to controls. At 5-year follow-up, dislocation-free survivorship was 95.7% (95% CI, 94.5-96.9%) for AS patients ⩾70 years old compared to 97.3% (95% CI, 96.6-98.0%) for patients ⩾70 years old without AS.

Older AS patients have higher dislocation rates following THA. This effect is likely related to decreased spinopelvic motion in the sagittal plane, predisposing patients to impinge and dislocate.