POLYETHYLENE TAPE FOR GREATER TROCHANTER FIXATION IN REVISION THA

Abstract

Introduction: Although Metal wires and cables are popular tools to fix greater trochanter in revision THA, non union, pain and breakage are well known. For these situations, we used polyethylene tape which is occasionally applied for the spine surgery. The purpose of this study is to evaluate clinical result of greater trochanter fixation using polyethylene tape in revision THA cases.

Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent revisions THA (six cases) and re-revision THA (two cases) (mean age at operation; seventy), with a minimum followup of two years. In revision cases, we attached greater trochanter to proximal femur fixing like figure eight with this tape. Migration of greater trochanter, union rate, pain and dislocation were evaluated in this study.

Result: Bone union was achieved without migration and we did not experience any patients with pain. However migration of greater trochanter to cranially and anteriorly 3mm was observed in all re-revision cases. A patient dislocated twice after the re-revision.

Discussion: We demonstrated that the polyethylene tape had several advantages used in greater trochanter fixation. Strength of the polyethylene tape has been reported as strong as the stainless cable. The polyethylene tape did not cause any adverse effects including pain and cheese cut phenomenon because of broad contact area with bone. The tape could be put directly on the stem, which is impossible with metal wires and cables. In addition, we do not expect any third body wear. We concluded that polyethylene tape applied for fixing greater trochanter in revision THA would be safe and effective.