IntroductionHip arthroscopy is increasingly adopted for the treatment of intra-articular and extra-articular pathologies. Studies from USA demonstrate a 365% increase in the number of procedures performed between 2004 and 2009 and 250% increase between 2007 and 2011. There is limited evidence of long-term efficacy for this procedure and hip arthroscopy is not universally funded across England. The aim of this study is to describe temporal trends in the adoption of hip arthroscopy in England between 2002 and 2013 and to forecast trends for the next 10 years.MethodsA search of the Hospital Episodes Database was performed for all codes describing arthroscopic hip procedures with patient age, sex and area of residence.Results11 329 hip arthroscopies were performed in National Health Service hospitals in England between 2002 and 2013. The number of hip arthroscopies performed increased by 727% (p<0.0001) during this period and is forecast to increase by 1388% in 2023. Females represent 60% of all patients undergoing hip arthroscopy (p<0.001). Median age category is 40–44 for females and 35–39 for males and average age decreased during the study period (p<0.0001). There is significant regional variation in procedure incidence. In the final year of this study the highest incidence was in the Southwest (8.63/100 000 population) and lowest in East Midlands (1.29/100 000 population).ConclusionsThe increase in number of hip arthroscopies performed in England reflects trends in USA and continued increases are forecast. Evidence from robust clinical trials is required to justify the increasing number of procedures performed and regional variation suggests potential inequality in the provision of this intervention.

Objective To determine the extent to which prostheses with no readily available evidence to support their use are being implanted in primary total hip arthroplasty.Design Systematic review of the literature.Data sources The 9th annual report of the National Joint Registry of England and Wales (NJR) was analysed to identify prostheses with an Orthopaedic Data Evaluation Panel rating of “unclassified” or “pre-entry” used in primary total hip arthroplasty in 2011. A systematic review of those prostheses was carried out using PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, OVID, and Google databases.Study selection Prostheses used in primary total hip arthroplasty as published in the NJR’s 9th annual report were analysed. Only literature that included the name of the prosthesis was included. Literature yielded in the search results was excluded if it reported animal, non-orthopaedic, non-total hip arthroplasty, or non-device related studies.Results The systematic review found that 24% (57/235) of all hip replacement implants available to surgeons in the UK have no evidence for their clinical effectiveness. It also shows that 10 617 (7.8%) of the 136 593 components used in primary hip replacements in 2011 were implanted without readily identifiable evidence of clinical effectiveness. These comprised 157 cemented stems (0.5% of 34 655 implanted), 936 (2.8% of 33 367) uncemented stems, 1732 (7.1% of 24 349) cemented cups, and 7577 (17.1% of 44 222) uncemented cups.Conclusions This study shows that a considerable proportion of prostheses available to orthopaedic surgeons have no readily available evidence of clinical effectiveness to support their use. Concern exists about the current system of device regulation, and the need for a revised process for introducing new orthopaedic devices is highlighted.

BackgroundApproximately 10% of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee have unicompartmental OA confined to the patellofemoral joint (PFJ). The main surgical options are total knee replacement (TKR) and PFJ replacement (PFJR). PFJR has a number of advantages over TKR, including being less invasive, preserving the unaffected parts of the knee, allowing faster recovery and better range of motion and function. We report our prospective mid-term results of the Avon PFJR for established isolated PFJ arthritis in 61 consecutive procedures.MethodsSixty-one Avon PFJRs were performed in 57 patients. The outcome measures were the new Oxford knee score (OKS), Hungerford and Kenna score (HKS), and Crosby Insall knee scores. Only patients with severe isolated PFJ OA were included. The diagnosis was based on a combination of clinical, radiological and, where available, arthroscopic findings.ResultsMean follow-up was 5.09 years (range, 12 to 124 years). There were 2 revisions in the first 5 years. The median HKS score was 80 (interquartile range, 70 to 95) and the mean OKS was 31.8 (± standard deviation, 8.7) at 5 years. These were significantly better (p < 0.001) than the preoperative scores.ConclusionsThe Avon prosthesis gives good functional outcomes in the medium term and survives well. Our data support other studies in the literature and is the largest independent prospective study to date.