Trajectory and rate of recovery of function, pain and activity level after hip arthroscopy

Understanding the trajectory of recovery after hip arthroscopy is valuable to help manage expectations and recognise patients at risk for delayed recovery. The purpose of this study was to determine the recovery profile of function, pain, and activity level up to 2 years after hip arthroscopy.

Patients from a single centre's orthopaedic registry who underwent hip arthroscopy were identified. Function, pain, and activity level were measured using Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF), PROMIS Pain Interference (PI), a numeric pain scale (NPS), and Tegner Activity Scale (TAS) up to 2 years postoperatively. Nonlinear growth models were used to estimate the effect of recovery time on each outcome.

Of 92 patients identified, 64 (70%) were followed up to 2 years. There was significant improvement in all outcome measures at 2 years. The time to 50% recovery for PROMIS PF, PROMIS PI, and TAS was 11.0, 6.7, and 18.5 weeks, respectively. The time, in weeks, to full recovery of PROMIS PF, PROMIS PI, and TAS was estimated at 17.0, 37.4, and 28.8 respectively. NPS declined at a rate of -0.22 points per week, plateauing by 12 weeks.

Physical function and activity levels plateau at 4 and 7 months respectively, while pain recovery is more variable. These results can help guide discussions with patients regarding recovery after hip arthroscopy and provide benchmarks for identifying patients who could benefit from changes in postoperative protocol.