Prearthritic Hip Disease: Important Issues

Abstract

Prearthritic hip disease is challenging to define, diagnose, and treat. The mechanically abnormal hip, which has not yet suffered irreversible damage but will do so if its abnormal mechanics are not corrected, can be considered to be in a prearthritic stage. A conundrum regarding the treatment of many patients with a variety of hip diseases involving a hip at mechanical risk is that the best opportunity for preventing progressive osteoarthritis lies in the period before symptoms are severe enough to demand treatment solely on that basis. It is difficult to institute treatment for a minimally symptomatic but at-risk hip because of the multitude of variables that affect symptoms and hip longevity. Input from an established team of multiple hip experts with varying areas of expertise is ideal. Shared decision-making is highly effective in this prearthritic situation of high patient sensitivity. The cornerstone of treatment of the prearthritic hip is the correction of the problematic mechanical abnormality. As methods of analysis and treatment methods evolve and as long-term outcomes of treatments become understood, the role of intervention during the prearthritic stage of hip disease is likely to increase.