BACKGROUND

Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) is an established treatment for symptomatic developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) and femoroacetabular impingement (FAI; principally acetabular retroversion) in adults who are commonly of reproductive age.

PURPOSE

To describe the effect of PAO on patient-reported sexual function (SF) using data from the UK Non-Arthroplasty Hip Registry (NAHR).

STUDY DESIGN

Cohort study: Level of evidence, 3.

METHODS

Adult patients who underwent isolated PAO between January 2012 and July 2022 were extracted from the NAHR. The EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) and International Hip Outcome Tool 12 (iHOT-12) questionnaires were collected preoperatively and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. This included responses to 2 questions from the iHOT-12 questionnaire relevant to SF: (1) "Are questions about SF relevant to you?" and (2) "How much trouble do you have with sexual activity because of your hip?" (0 = severe; 100 = none).

RESULTS

A total of 773 patients (median age, 29 years (IQR, 23-37), 92.5% female) who underwent PAO for DDH (n = 703; 90.9%) or FAI (n = 70; 9.1%) were identified after exclusions. Of iHOT-12 respondents, 88.2% indicated that SF was relevant to them. Baseline median iHOT-12 SF scores were 33 (IQR, 18-53) for female and 73 (IQR, 36-90) for male patients. Female iHOT-12 SF improved by a mean of +19.9 points (95% CI, 16.5-23.2) at 6 months ( < .0001), with continued improvement to +26.4 points (95% CI, 23.0-29.8) at 12 months ( < .0001) versus preoperative SF scores. At 12 months, median iHOT-12 SF scores were 70 (IQR, 40-90) and 89 (IQR, 70-99) for female and male patients, respectively. Preoperative SF scores were significantly lower ( = .001) in patients who underwent PAO for indication of FAI (female median score 22; IQR, 10-38) compared with DDH (female median score: 34; IQR, 18-54); however, both indications saw significant improvement in SF scores at 12 months. iHOT-12 SF scores improved for 77.1% and worsened for 19.1% of female respondents with DDH. A strong positive association was seen between health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) and SF scores, and there was significant improvement in SF across studied ages.

CONCLUSION

PAO was associated with significant improvement in patient-reported SF for the majority of patients. Some patients may have trouble with sexual activity even 1 year after PAO for DDH, with almost 20% reporting poorer SF compared with preoperative baseline.