Do Patients Undergoing Hip Arthroscopy with Active Workers` Compensation Claims Still Demonstrate Inferior Outcomes at Mid-Term?

Introduction: Workers’ Compensation (WC) claims have been associated with worsened short-term outcomes after hip arthroscopy. We aim to report mid-term outcomes and return to work (RTW) among patients with WC claims.

Methods: Data were reviewed on patients that underwent hip arthroscopy between September 2008 and July 2011. Inclusion criteria were active WC claim at time of surgery with preoperatively-documented patient reported outcomes (PROs). Exclusion criteria were previous hip conditions and preoperative Tönnis grade > 1. Patient reported WC cases were pair-matched to non-WC cases based on BMI ± 5, age ± 5 years, gender, preoperative LCEA, labral treatment, and capsular treatment.

Results: Work status details were available for 49 patients and 47 patients (95.9%) returned to work. Forty-two WC hips were matched to 42 control hips. At ≥ 5-year follow-up, PROs, VAS and satisfaction were not different between the groups. All magnitudes in improvement were significantly higher in the WC group (p = < 0.001) except for VAS. No significant differences were found in rates of secondary arthroscopies, conversions to THA, or complications between the groups.

Conclusions: WC patients has equal favorable mid-term outcomes as non-WC patients after hip arthroscopy for the treatment of FAI and labral pathology.