Trends in hip arthroscopy

Abstract

Background: Recent advances in diagnosis and instrumentation have facilitated the arthroscopic treatment of hip pathology. However, little has been reported on trends in the utilization of hip arthroscopy. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the use of hip arthroscopy as reflected in the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) database. We also surveyed directors of both sports and joint reconstruction fellowships to determine attitudes toward hip arthroscopy training.

Methods: The number of hip arthroscopy cases in the ABOS database during 1999 through 2009 was determined. A survey was devised to determine the type of hip arthroscopy training that was currently being offered at the fellowship level.

Results: The number of hip arthroscopy procedures performed by ABOS candidates increased significantly from 0.02 cases per candidate in 1999 to 0.36 cases per candidate in 2009 (p < 0.0001). From 2003 through 2009, a significantly greater percentage of ABOS candidates with sports fellowship training (10.4%) than candidates without such training (2.9%) performed hip arthroscopy (p < 0.0001). During this same time period, candidates in the Northeast and Northwest performed the most hip arthroscopy procedures as a percentage of total procedures (p < 0.0001). Nearly half of the sports and joint reconstruction fellowships that included hip arthroscopy as a component of the training in 2010 had added it within the past three years. Fellows performed fewer than twenty hip arthroscopy cases per year in the majority of training programs.

Conclusions: The number of hip arthroscopy procedures performed by candidates taking Part II of the ABOS examination increased eighteenfold between 1999 and 2009. This increase is likely the result of several factors, including an increase in the number of programs offering training in hip arthroscopy.