55. EARLY EXPERIENCE OF HUETER-ANTERIOR APPROACH FOR HIP RESURFACING

Abstract

Purpose: The short-term results of metal-on-metal hip resurfacing (HR) have been excellent. However, extensile approaches such as the posterior and trochanteric slide have been used to ensure proper component placement. The minimally invasive (MI) anterior Hueter approach is both muscle and vascular sparing to the femoral head. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the learning curve of this approach in performing hip resurfacing.

Method: The first 50 MI HR done by a single high volume arthroplasty surgeon were compared with his previous fifty procedures performed through a trochanteric slide osteotomy, with respect to (BMI, sex, etiology and age) were comparable (p=.372,.122,.143 and .353, respectively).

Results: Overall, the traditional transtrochanteric lateral approach took significantly longer to perform compared to MI RAH (97 versus 109 minutes, p=0.014). If we exclude the first 25 MI RAH cases (mean, 106 minutes), the difference is greater (89 versus 109 minutes, p=0.002). The mean femoral component stem to femoral shaft angle (SSA) was not significantly different between the two groups (MI RAH=142.7, lateral approach=140.0, p=0.053). The cup abduction angle (CA) was slightly different between the two groups (MI RAH 42.5°, lateral approach=39.2°, p=0.03). More patients had cup abduction angles in the 45°–55° range (p=0.009) in the MI HR group but none had a cup angle over 55° of abduction in either group. On the femur side, component positioning was comparable.

Conclusion: Based on our early results, the anterior-Hueter approach is a reasonable alternative to more extensile surgical approaches. Like any MI approach to hip surgery, great care has to be taken not to put the cups too vertical. Further long-term studies as well as comparisons to other approaches such as the posterior approach will determine if the anterior approach can be recommended for hip resurfacing.