Abstract
In the case of a complete dislocated hip or a severe deformity of the proximal femur, total hip arthroplasty (THA) can still be combined with a proximal femoral osteotomy for shortening femur or correcting the deformity if needed. Subtrochanteric femoral shortening and a corrective osteotomy are considered to be an integral part of THA for such cases. A precise osteotomy is mandatory to achieve good results. Although, the freehand excision of V-shaped subtrochanteric osteotomy used to be performed frequently, this procedure was also subject to some pitfalls, such as poor coaptation of the osteotomy surface. A new device was thus developed to perform a V-shaped osteotomy in an identical central axis between the distal and proximal femur. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the device by comparing the perioperative results with those of a free-hand subtrochanteric osteotomy.
From 1999 to 2002, THA combined with a double-chevron subtrochanteric osteotomy was performed by free hand (free hand group). From 2003 to 2007, THA combined with a double-chevron subtrochanteric osteotomy was performed using a new device (device group). The free hand group included 27 hips in 21 patients. The mean age of the patients (23 females and 3 males) at the time of the operation was 58 years. Fourteen were completely dislocated hips and 13 followed various proximal femoral osteotomies. The device group included 102 hips in 79 patients. The mean age of thepatients (70 females and 9 males) at the time of the operation was 62 years. Seventy two were completely dislocated hips and 26 followed various proximal femoral osteotomies. Four parameters were used to evaluate the efficacy of the device:
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operation time,
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total blood loss,
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C-reactive protein at postoperative 1 day and
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early complications at the osteotomy site.
The mean operation time, total blood loss, and C-reactive protein in the device group all significantly decreased in comparison to the free hand group. The decreases ranged from; 132 to 96 minutes (p< 0.01), 1346 to 999 g (p< 0.01), 4.9 to 3.0 mg/dl (p< 0.05), respectively. Two types of complications were observed at the osteotomy site. Pseudoarthrosis at the osteotomy site was observed one case in each group and both of these cases underwent a stem revision (4% in the freehand group and 1% in the device group). A femoral shaft split was observed in 3 cases in the freehand group (11%) and 3 cases in the device group (3%) and all 6 cases were treated conservatively. There were no instances of nerve palsy, infections, or thromboembolic events resulting from these procedures.
The above described new device allowed for the easy and accurate performance of a subtrochanteric V-shaped osteotomy with THA for either a completely dislocated hip or a severely deformed proximal femur.
Correspondence should be addressed to ISTA Secretariat, PO Box 6564, Auburn, CA 95604, USA. Tel: 1-916-454-9884, Fax: 1-916-454-9882, Email: ista@pacbell.net
