Effect of surgical treatment on the quality of life in patients with non-traumatic avascular necrosis of the femoral head

Abstract

Objective

Avascular necrosis of the hip is a common debilitating disease during the fourth and fifth decades of life. This study attempted to evaluate quality of life in patients with avascular necrosis of the hip joint before and after surgery.

Methods

In this study, 40 patients with avascular necrosis of the hip who underwent total hip arthroplasty, bipolar surgery, or cord compression were examined during 2006–2013. Harris Hip Score was used to assess the hip joint function and quality of life before and after surgery. The mean scores and standard deviation were used to describe data for quantitative variables, while frequency percentage was used to describe qualitative variables. Data were analyzed through SPSS v.19 and paired t-test. p < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results

This study involved 40 subjects with a mean age of 32 ± 7.38 years, ranging from 21 to 45 years old. The mean Harris Hip Score for patients before and after surgery were 20.36 and 96.15, respectively, showing a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). The average patient activity scores before and after surgery (8.9 and 44.2, respectively), non-deformity (1.6 and 3.9), and movement (3.6 and 4.9) indicated significant differences (p < 0.001). Furthermore, 80% of patients felt no hip joint pain six months after surgery, while 92.5% patients did not use any assistive device to walk.

Conclusions

The results of this study demonstrated that surgery substantially contributed to relieving pain and improving hip function in patients with osteonecrosis of the hip joint in the short term.