We evaluated the early results of arthroscopic debridement and lavage procedure in osteoarthritis of the hip.
The hips of 13 patients (7 women, 6 men; mean age 52 years; range 29 to 74 years) were treated by arthroscopic debridement and lavage in lateral position under general anesthesia. Ten patients had primary coxarthrosis; it was due to acetabular dysplasia in two patients, and to avascular necrosis of the femoral head in one patient. The patients were radiographically and arthroscopically evaluated according to the Kellgren-Lawrence grading system and the Tippett's chondropathy classification, respectively. Preoperative and postoperative assessments of the hips were made according to the Harris hip scoring system. The mean follow-up was 11.2 months (range 5 to 22 months).
Harris hip scores increased in eight patients (62%) postoperatively, namely, in only one patient out of six with a radiographically high grade of osteoarthritis (grade 4), and in all seven patients with grade 2 or 3 disease. No complications occurred. Significant negative correlations were found between radiographic and arthroscopic grades and the clinical improvement (p=0.001). However, the patients' age and the preoperative Harris hip score were not correlated with the clinical result.
Arthroscopic debridement and lavage provides significant clinical improvement during short-term follow-up of osteoarthritic hips with radiographic grades of 3 or less.