Osteoarthritis of the hip in patients under 60 years of age. A study of the importance of pain at rest as an indication for intertrochanteric osteotomy.

Pain at rest with osteoarthritis of the hip may be due to increased intraosseous blood pressure, which falls immediately after an intertrochanteric osteotomy. Eighty-five consecutive hips from patients under 60 years of age at the time of operation were studied in order to evaluate if pain at rest was an indication for intertrochanteric osteotomy. Patients who operatively were predominantly in pain at rest had a significantly better prognosis than patients with a predominantly weight-bearing pain (P less than 0.05). Intertrochanteric osteotomy reduced pain for the group of patients with predominant pain at rest (n = 50) by 81%, 66%, and 56% at 5, 10, and 15 years respectively. In the group where weight-bearing pain was predominant (n = 35), the operation was a success in only 39% at 5 years and after.