Osteoarthritis is found to be the most common form of arthritis. Studies show that around five percent of the US population is affected with hip or knee osteoarthritis and over 70 percent of total hip and knee replacements are for osteoarthritis (5). Research demonstrates that most people over the age of 65 have evidence of osteoarthritis (OA), the most common joint disorder. Prevalence of hand, hip, and knee OA is found to increase with age and is higher in women than in men. OA causes disability in the elderly and impacts the cost of care for that population. Studies show that people with OA have higher rates of mortality than those without the disease. Radiographic evidence of the disease is focused on, however many patients with radiographic evidence of OA do not have symptoms; symptomatic OA causes pain, suffering, disability, and the use of health care resources (8). Understanding of the disease has evolved over the past decade and includes hip joint structure, pathogenesis, etiology, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment (6).
OA refers to the endstage of a process of joint failure characterized by cartilage loss and subchondral bone reaction (4). Stability of the hip joint is due to the ball and socket construction of the joint. In early secondary degenerative arthritis the majority of the deformity is found on the acetabular side of the hip joint. Establishing a more normal hip-joint anatomy reduces symptoms and delays or reverses the onset of early radiographic signs of secondary degenerative disease in certain cases. The success of osteotomy may be due to the fact that most osteoarthritis of the hip is secondary to deformity found with acetabular dysplasia or slipped capital femoral epiphysis (11).
Despite multifactorial causes of OA, common pathways of changes in cartilage metabolism that culminate in cartilage matrix degradation are found. OA was originally thought to be a noninflammatory, hype...