Hip arthroscopy in the United States: an update following coding changes in 2011

The purpose of this study is to define the incidence of hip arthroscopy-related procedures in the United States prior to and following 2011 and to determine if the rise in incidence has coincided with an increase in the complexity and diversity of procedures performed. Patients who underwent hip arthroscopy were identified from a publicly available US database. A distinction was made between ‘traditional’ and ‘extended’ codes. CPT-29999 (unlisted arthroscopy) was considered extended and counted only if associated with a hip pathology diagnosis. Codes directed toward femoroacetabular impingement pathology were also considered extended codes and were analyzed separately based on increased technical skill. Unpaired student t-tests and z-score tests were performed. From 2007 to 2014, there were a total of 2581 hip arthroscopies performed in the database (1.06 cases per 10 000 patients). The number of hip arthroscopies increased 117% from 2007 to 2014 (P < 0.001) and 12.5% from 2011 to 2014 (P = 0.045). Hip arthroscopies using extended codes increased 475% from 2007 to 2014 (P < 0.001) compared to 24% for traditional codes (P < 0.001). Codes addressing femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) pathology increased 55.7% between 2011 to 2014 (P < 0.001). The ratio of labral repair to labral debridement in patients younger than 50 years exceeded >1.0 starting in 2011 (P < 0.001). The total number of hip arthroscopies in addition to the complexity and diversity of hip arthroscopy procedures performed in the United States continues to rise. FAI-based procedures and labral repairs are being performed more frequently in younger patients, likely reflecting both improved technical ability and current evidence-based research.