Ten-year survivorship of primary total hip arthroplasty in patients 30 years of age or younger

Aims For this retrospective cohort study, patients aged <= 30 years (very young) who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) were compared with patients aged >= 60 years (elderly) to evaluate the rate of revision arthroplasty, implant survival, the indications for revision, the complications, and the patient-reported outcomes. Patients and Methods We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent primary THA between January 2000 and May 2015 from our institutional database. A total of 145 very young and 1359 elderly patients were reviewed. The mean follow-up was 5.3 years (1 to 18). Logistic generalized estimating equations were used to compare characteristics and the revision rate. Survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier curves and hazard rates were created using Cox regression. Results The overall revision rate was 11% (16/145) in the very young and 3.83% (52/1359) in the elderly groups (odds ratio (OR) 2.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.43 to 4.63). After adjusting for the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, gender, and a history of previous surgery in a time-to-event model, the risk of revision remained greater in the very young (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 2.48, 95% CI 1.34 to 4.58). Survival at ten years was 82% (95% CI, 71 to 89) in the very young and 96% (95% CI, 94 to 97) in the elderly group (p < 0.001). The very young had a higher rate of revision for complications related to metalon- metal (MoM) bearing surfaces (p < 0.001). At last follow-up, the very young group had higher levels of physical function (p = 0.002), lower levels of mental health (p = 0.001), and similar levels of pain (p = 0.670) compared with their elderly counterparts. Conclusion The overall revision rate was greater in very young THA patients. This was largely explained by the use of MoM bearings. Young patients with non-MoM bearings had high survivorship with similar complication profiles to patients aged >= 60 years.