Abstract
Introduction
Most Japanese patients who receive total hip arthroplasty (THA) are osteoarthritic and 70% have development dysplasia of the hip. Their stature is shorter than average and their sizes (acetabular cup and femoral stem) are smaller. The Taperloc Microplasty (BIOMET) is a short femoral stem. It was launched on July 2012 in Japan (extended on January 2013). It is essentially a shortened version of the Taperloc stem (35mm shorter than the standard stem).
Objectives
We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of minimally invasive anterolateral THA using a short stem.
Methods
We retrospectively reviewed all 56 patients who underwent THA at our hospitals between July 2013 and April 2015. Of these 28 (50%) were performed with short stems. The surgical approach was antero-lateral in the lateral position. The patients (4 men and 24 women) had a mean age at surgery of 66.5 years (range, 46–85 years). The original diseases were osteoarthritis (25 patients) and osteonecrosis (3 patients).
We investigated the system type, size (cup, femoral head, and stem), radiological findings and complications (fracture, infection, deep vein thrombosis, and dislocation).
Results
There were no severe complications, such as, infection, deep vein thrombosis, or dislocation. One patient had a femur fracture during operation and was switched to a standard stem. The mean surgery duration was 102 minutes (range, 80–142 minutes) and the mean amount of bleeding during surgery was 254 g (range, 95–720 g). Mean cup size was 51.0 mm (range, 48–60 mm) and stem size is 6 (range, 4–13). Radiological findings showed 2 patients had stem subsidence (within 5mm). One of them had severe osteoporosis and the other patient had leg length discrepancy.
Conclusions
Minimally invasive anterolateral THA using a short femoral stem has good clinical and radiological results in Japanese patients. Long-term results should be further observed prospectively.
