What did the study look at?
Hip arthroscopy is keyhole surgery on the hip joint, most often used to treat femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). The authors note that the procedure is increasing worldwide, but no data were available on its numbers and trends in Turkey. The study set out to describe the incidence of hip arthroscopy in Turkey and postoperative care habits. According to the authors, it is the first study to report yearly national trends for Turkey.
How was it done?
This was a cross-sectional, retrospective database study. Procedure and instrument codes for hip arthroscopy were searched in the Ministry of Health's Health Coding Reference Server (SKRS) between January 2016 and January 2023. More than 112 million personal health records from over 60 million patients were screened, and all data were anonymised. Age, sex, type of institution, geographic region, annual volume, postoperative prescriptions, femoral neck fractures and conversion to total hip replacement within two years were analysed.
What did it find?
- In total, 1,580 hip arthroscopies were identified. The mean age was 39.2 years; 57.5% of patients were male and 42.5% female, and 59.9% were aged 30–50.
- From 2016 to 2022 the number of operations rose by 833.3%. Incidence rose from 0.37 to 2.86 per 100,000 people attending orthopaedic outpatient clinics.
- Between 2019 and 2020 there was an 18.8% fall, which the authors attribute to the COVID-19 outbreak.
- 56.1% of operations were performed in the Marmara region, 32.9% in Central Anatolia and 7.1% in the Aegean region. By institution: private hospitals 47.7%, state hospitals 32.8%, university hospitals 19.4%.
- For preventing blood clots, low-molecular-weight heparin (enoxaparin) was by far the most commonly prescribed drug at discharge (99.4%).
- Indomethacin, aimed at preventing bone forming in soft tissues (heterotopic ossification), was prescribed in 14.1% of cases.
- The rate of conversion to total hip replacement within two years was 3.5%, with women significantly outnumbering men among those converted. Femoral neck fracture occurred in 2 cases (0.1%).
The authors note that the incidence found was markedly lower than rates reported in the literature and that Turkey appears to be in the early phase of the procedure's adoption.
The authors' conclusion
The authors conclude that hip arthroscopy numbers, their share of all orthopaedic operations and their incidence are rising in Turkey, with considerable potential for further growth. The findings highlight the need for a national registry capable of providing more specific and accurate data.
Limitations
- Data were extracted from a large data pool, so incorrect, incomplete or missing data may be included; details such as rehabilitation and functional scores were not available.
- The most frequently used procedure code does not specify exactly what was done, so groups by technique (such as labral repair or debridement) could not be formed.
- Codes do not record side, so it could not be confirmed whether a hip replacement was on the same side as the arthroscopy.
- Operations in small clinics not covered by public or private insurance were not included.
Reference
Cirdi YU, Bingol I, Kamacı S, Bayram S, Ata N, Ulgu MM, Birinci S, Kayaalp A, Gürsoy S. (2024). Identifying Hip Arthroscopy Trends in Turkey. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 12(12):23259671241293741. Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
DOI: 10.1177/23259671241293741
Free full text: PMC11635892
This article summarises a published scientific paper for general information; it does not replace an examination or a personal medical assessment. Please consult your doctor about your symptoms.
