return to work · last reviewed 2026-06-11
Return to work after PAO surgery
Clinical procedure: Periacetabular osteotomy (PAO).
Typical, evidence-anchored estimate only. It is not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.
Every number on this page comes from a published study of real patients and links to its source. Return-to-work timing varies widely with the kind of job, the cohort studied, and the person — treat the figures as orientation, not clearance.
When you actually return is a decision made with your surgeon and, where relevant, occupational health. The data below describes cohorts, not your case.
what the studies document
Back to work
Work returns on a long, known curve
Cumulative return to work: 11.6% by week 6, 38.6% by 12, 62% by 18, 85.7% by 24, and 97.4% by a year — median 16 weeks. Being out this long is the documented norm for PAO, not a slow recovery.
milestones from the timeline
- wk 16 ·Return to work (Median 16 weeks, IQR 12-22 (n=242); 38.6% back by 12 wk, 85.7% by 24 wk (occupation split not reported))
sources
What this page is built from
- Postoperative weight-bearing restrictions and rehabilitation after PAO: systematic review (63 studies) meta-analysis · reliability 9/10
- Rehabilitation guidelines following PAO: North American Delphi consensus (Disantis et al., IJSPT 2022) society guideline · reliability 9/10
- Patient-reported outcomes of PAO: prospective ANCHOR cohort (Clohisy et al., JBJS 2017, n=391) prospective cohort · reliability 9/10
- Pain reduction up to two years after PAO, rest vs activity (Jakobsen et al., Aarhus, pain cohort n=299) prospective cohort · reliability 8/10
- Daily postoperative pain and opioid use after PAO via automated mobile messaging (Bryan et al. 2020, n=29) prospective cohort · reliability 8/10
- PAO activity levels and return to sport: systematic review (J Hip Preserv Surg 2024) meta-analysis · reliability 8/10
- Anticipating time taken off work after Bernese PAO (2025, n=242) prospective cohort · reliability 8/10
Track your own week-by-week so a flare doesn't erase the months behind it.
Start a recovery logThis page reflects published cohort data on pao recovery — not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.