The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons issued new clinical practice guidelines for treating hip osteoarthritis.
Here are six insights:
1. The guidelines support pre-surgical treatments to subdue pain and improve mobility, such as corticosteroid injections, physical therapy and non-narcotic medications.
2. AAOS doesn't recommend using hyaluronic acid or glucosamine sulfate, as there is not enough evidence pointing to these treatments' efficacy.
3. The guidelines also note no clinically significant differences in patient outcomes between the anterior or posterior hip surgery approaches.
4. AAOS reports patients with a body mass index greater than 30 and severe hip osteoarthritis may see lower outcome scores after total hip replacement, compared to patients with lower BMIs.
5. The guidelines admit little evidence supports the idea that patients using tobacco have an increased complication risk following THR.
6. Age correlated moderately with lower function and quality of life outcomes, and mental health disorders associated with decreased function, pain relief and quality of life.