Abstract
Introduction: Arthodesis provides a durable, painless and stable hip. Conversion to arthroplasty was has been recommended to relieve the excessive stresses in the neighbouring joints. We present the long term results following conversion of hip athrodesis to total hip artho-plasty at specialist hip centre. Method and material: 67 patients underwent the conversion between 1963 and 2000 at the centre for hip surgery, wrightington hospital were included in the study. 45 patients are available for the evaluation. Merle d’ Aubigne and Postel as modified by Charnley was used for clinical scoring. The most recent radiograph in patients with surviving arthoplasty was analysed. Results: The mean age at the time of arthodesis was 16.8 years. The conversion to hip arthroplasty was performed after a mean period of 32.3 years (range 12 to 54 years). The mean folowup was 16.37years (range 2–28). The mean Merle d’ Aubigne and Postel score increased from 7.95 to 13.45 postoperatively. All the patients were delighted with the conversion. 7 patients had revision and 1 had pseudoarthrosis. Conclusion: Hip arthrodesis is a useful holding procedure for young persons with painful hip. This could be successfully converted to Hip arthroplasty after an interval of relatively high physical activity during young adult life.
Theses abstracts were prepared by Professor Dr. Frantz Langlais. Correspondence should be addressed to him at EFORT Central Office, Freihofstrasse 22, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
