The purpose of this review was to elucidate if surgery can prevent secondary osteoarthritis (OA) in hip dysplasia, femoroacetabular impingement syndrome, varus malalignment of the knee, patella instability, anterior cruciate ligament injury and intra-articular fracture of the knee or hip. In conclusion, there is evidence that surgery for intra articular fracture of the knee or hip reduces the risk of secondary OA. There is a lack of prospective comparative studies for the remaining investigated conditions and as such no convincing evidence that surgery reduces the risk of secondary OA.