Background: Fracture neck of the femur (NOF) is one of the indications for Total Hip Replacement (THR). However, the practice is not the same throughout the world. Aim: We compared the use of THR in the management of the fracture NOF using the annual reports of the National Joint Registries from various countries. Material and Methods: We used the latest available on line annual report of seven national arthroplasty registries to ascertain the rate of use of THR for fractures of the neck of the femur. The registries from Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, and the UK gave a detailed breakup of the indications for THR in their reports. Results: 11.9% of the all the THRs performed in Norway since 1987 were for NOFs. · 11.39% of all the THRs performed in Sweden since 1992 were for NOFs. 6.0% of the THRs performed in Canada in 2002–2003 were for NOFs. 2.9% of THRs performed in Australia since 1999 were for NOFs. 1.9% of the THRs performed in the UK in the period April – December 2003 were for NOFs. The registries from Finland and New Zealand had no detailed information on their websites regarding the indications for THA surgery. Discussion: In the Scandinavian countries, THR is performed for the management of a NOF 6 times more often than in the UK, and 4 times more often than in Australia. It is unlikely that the prevalence of patients with previous osteoarthritis of hip who sustain a NOF is higher in the Scandinavian countries than in the UK. Women in Sweden have a higher lifetime risk of hip fracture and live longer, so a procedure providing a good long term results would be beneficial. Provision of health care may also influence surgical management options. The long waiting lists for elective THR in the UK may explain the low number of THRs performed for NOFs

Preoperative planning for Total Hip Arthroplasty has been acknowledged as a vital step to facilitate a successful outcome. Templating ascertains the dimensions and positioning of the implants, minimizing both intraoperative and postoperative complications. The purpose of this study is to compare the accuracy of digital templating to acetate templating in the preoperative planning of Total Hip Arthroplasty. Preoperative planning was performed on 40 consecutive patients (mean age = 70.5 years), undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty. Digital templating was performed by the Hip fellow 1, using Orthoview software (Jacksonville, FL, USA) and recorded the sizes of the cup and stem for each of the 40 patients. Subsequently, the same 40 patients were templated by Hip fellow 2, with X-rays done with a lead marker of known size by the side of the femur, using, acetate templating method. Templating results were compared to the actual sizes of the implants used, as noted in operative notes. Templating scores for the acetabular cup were 40% (16/40) with digital templating and 50% (20/40) with acetate templating. The templating scores for stem were 28% (11/40) with digital templating and 90% (36/40) with acetate templating. The differences between templating and actual implant sizes were plotted in Bland–Altman plot. Acetate templating proved to be statistically, significantly more accurate than digital templating (p value= 0.0083). Our results indicate that the traditional acetate method is solid and valid to use for preoperative planning. This method is accurate and offers a more affordable option for preoperative templating. Although the templated size is one, there is a tendency to increase cup size to use bigger heads, which is the recent National Joint Registries trend. We recommend that acetate templating should be used as the default option

Objectives. Wear debris released from bearing surfaces has been shown to provoke negative immune responses in the recipient. Excessive wear has been linked to early failure of prostheses. Analysis using coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) can provide estimates of total volumetric material loss of explanted prostheses and can help to understand device failure. The accuracy of volumetric testing has been debated, with some investigators stating that only protocols involving hundreds of thousands of measurement points are sufficient. We looked to examine this assumption and to apply the findings to the clinical arena. . Methods. We examined the effects on the calculated material loss from a ceramic femoral head when different CMM scanning parameters were used. Calculated wear volumes were compared with gold standard gravimetric tests in a blinded study. . Results. Various scanning parameters including point pitch, maximum point to point distance, the number of scanning contours or the total number of points had no clinically relevant effect on volumetric wear calculations. Gravimetric testing showed that material loss can be calculated to provide clinically relevant degrees of accuracy. . Conclusions. Prosthetic surfaces can be analysed accurately and rapidly with currently available technologies. Given these results, we believe that routine analysis of explanted hip components would be a feasible and logical extension to National Joint Registries. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2014;3:60–8

At the New Zealand Shoulder and Elbow Society Meeting in 2005, it was decided to set up a national registry to look at the outcomes of rotator cuff repair in New Zealand. National Joint Registries have produced very powerful information on the performance of joint replacements, not just in the hands of the designer but for all surgeons. The patient numbers in these Registries have allowed powerful information to be derived which has had a significant impact on local practice. A nationwide registry on rotator cuff repair in New Zealand has the potential to provide similar powerful information. This is an area in which there has been rapid change over the last five years particularly with regard to surgical approach whether it be open, mini-open or arthroscopic and uncertainty remains as to what is best ‘best practice’. Surgeons are unwilling to invest time and effort into mastering sometimes difficult new procedures unless significant benefit can be demonstrated. Aspects addressed include anchors v. traditional drill holes in bone, anchor type, suture type and configuration, length of immobilisation, post-operative regime, effects of smoking and NSAIDs, on outcome and outcome versus size of tear. A pilot study is being undertaken to ensure the questionnaires are workable and the system will run smoothly. Early results of the pilot study will be presented

Over the past 15 years metal on metal hip resurfacing (MOMHR) has seen a spectacular resurgence in utilization followed by near abandonment of the procedure. A select group of surgeons still offer the procedure to a select group of patients suggesting that there are benefits of MOMHR over total hip arthroplasty (THA). This is problematic for the following reasons:. 1). MOMHR does not lead to increased survivorship. The Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry (AOANJRR) and the England and Wales National Joint Registry, from countries with high rates of utilization of MOMHR, both report significantly worse survivorship with MOMHR compared to all types of conventional THA. Risk factors for revision of resurfacing were older patients, females, smaller femoral head size, patients with developmental dysplasia, and certain implant designs. 2). MOMHR is associated with the generation of metal ions that can have devastating effects in some patients. Cobalt and chromium ions generated from MOMHR can result in adverse local tissues reactions around the hip, sometimes with catastrophic consequences, as well as neurological deficits, skin rashes, and cardiomyopathy. It is unclear as to which patients are at risk for the generation of high ion levels and less clear with respect to the host response to these ions. The discriminative and predictive values of ion testing are still being determined. MOMHR subsequently require careful follow-up with limited tools to assess risk and pending problems. 3). MOMHR is not less invasive. In order to deliver the femoral head for safe preparation and to access the acetabulum with the femoral head and neck in situ, significant dissection and retraction are required. The exposure issue is compounded as the procedure is most often performed in younger, larger males. Difficulty with exposure has been associated with an insult to the femoral head's blood supply that may lead to fracture and/or neck narrowing. 4). Preservation of the femoral canal with MOMHR does not improve outcomes of revision. The perceived advantage of preserved femoral head and neck implies that a conversion of a MOMHR to total hip should convey survivorship similar to primary THA. However, this is not the case as confirmed by data from the AOANJRR demonstrating worse survivorship of revised resurfacings when compared to a primary total hip arthroplasty. 5). MOMHR does not result in superior functional outcomes. Advocates for MOMHR often claim that the large femoral head and intact femoral neck in resurfacing results in a better functional outcome and therefore, a better quality of life and satisfaction when compared to a conventional THA. This, however, was not the case when gait speed, postural balance evaluations and functional tests were used in a randomised study of 48 patients, which failed to show an advantage of MOMHR over THA. In conclusion, it is relatively straightforward to oppose and argue against the use of hip resurfacings as they have worse outcomes in all National Joint Registries, produce metal ions with significant clinical consequences, are more invasive, are difficult to revise with subsequent inferior outcomes when compared to a conventional primary THA, and do not provide better function. These adverse features come with a premium price when compared to a conventional THA

Background. The cemented mobile bearing metal backed low contact stress patellofemoral arthroplasty (LCS PFA) is a newer design belonging to the second generation of inlay type implant, based on the more successful knee arthroplasty model. The advantage is the patella can articulate with the trochlear implant as well as the femoral component of a total knee replacement (TKR). Patients. This series is a cohort of 21 patients who underwent 24 (3 bilateral) unicompartmental PFA replacements for isolated patellofemoral osteoarthritis. We have used the mobile bearing LCS PFA in all of them. There were 3 males and 18 females. Average age was 51(40-58) years. The Oxford Knee score was used to assess the results. Results. At the latest follow-up averaging 2.7 (0.5 to 4) years, 9 patients showed excellent improvement in their knee scores, 5 patients showed fair improvement and 7 patients very little. There were 9 revisions in 7 patients either due to mechanical problems or with persistent symptoms. We had 4 patients with mechanical complications who underwent revision and 4 patients had a conversion to TKR. The revision rate at 2 years was 33%. There were no infections or loosening of trochlear implants. Conclusion. The revision rate for this implant seems to be very high and mainly with the patellar implant (at the metal polyethylene interface). The Australian Orthopaedic association annual joint registry report 2008 reported a higher revision rate for the same implant at 5% from a pool of 1057 patients. The young active patient having a patellofemoral replacement may put extreme force on their patellar implant. We strongly advocate patellofemoral arthroplasties to be analysed separately from the unicompartmental knees in the National Joint Registries to highlight any persistent issues with this implant

The minimally invasive technique recommended by the designers in the implantation of the OXF UKA make for a demanding procedure: most recorded failures are of a technical nature and occur within the first 2-years of implantation. Also, data from the Swedish and NZ National Joint Registries (NJR) show clearly that revision rates and surgeon experience are inversely related. To present some technical points, using illustrative cases, where implantation has been associated with suboptimal outcome, or has lead to re-operation. To offer solutions for these potential problems. In 2004, data from the NZ NJR allowed analysis of all failures of OXF UKA leading to revision. The case notes and x-rays (where available) were studied (Hartnett et al, NZOA ASM, 2004). Clinical records of personal cases performed over 8 years up till July 2008 have also been studied and provide the illustrative cases. On the tibial side, mismatch between the length of the keel on the tibial component and the bony slot created for it can cause the tibial component to be too posteriorally-sited. Also, if too much cement is used, posterior protrusion of cement may be difficult to detect at operation. The combination of these two may cause symptoms postero-medially. Ways of preventing these problems are outlined. On the femoral side, NZJR records that aseptic loosening of the femoral component is a prominent cause of failure of OXF UKA. A number of techniques to improve cement intrusion can be implemented and are outlined. A case study of the only such encountered describes the possibility that the femoral intramedullary guide rod can inadvertently be driven into the femoral canal by knee motion during operation: this remained undetected until shown on the x-ray taken after operation. Simple modifications of technique can minimise the chance of suboptimal outcome after OXF UKA surgery

Aims

The Exeter V40 cemented polished tapered stem system has demonstrated excellent long-term outcomes. This paper presents a systematic review of the existing literature and reports on a large case series comparing implant fractures between the Exeter V40 series; 125 mm and conventional length stem systems.

Cementless knee arthroplasty has seen a recent resurgence in popularity due to conceptual advantages, including improved osseointegration providing biological fixation, increased surgical efficiency, and reduced systemic complications associated with cement impaction and wear from cement debris. Increasingly younger and higher demand patients are requiring knee arthroplasty, and as such, there is optimism cementless fixation may improve implant survivorship and functional outcomes.

Compared to cemented implants, the National Joint Registry (NJR) currently reports higher revision rates in cementless total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but lower in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). However, recent studies are beginning to show excellent outcomes with cementless implants, particularly with UKA which has shown superior performance to cemented varieties. Cementless TKA has yet to show long-term benefit, and currently performs equivalently to cemented in short- to medium-term cohort studies. However, with novel concepts including 3D-printed coatings, robotic-assisted surgery, radiostereometric analysis, and kinematic or functional knee alignment principles, it is hoped they may help improve the outcomes of cementless TKA in the long-term. In addition, though cementless implant costs remain higher due to novel implant coatings, it is speculated cost-effectiveness can be achieved through greater surgical efficiency and potential reduction in revision costs. There is paucity of level one data on long-term outcomes between fixation methods and the cost-effectiveness of modern cementless knee arthroplasty.

This review explores recent literature on cementless knee arthroplasty, with regards to clinical outcomes, implant survivorship, complications, and cost-effectiveness; providing a concise update to assist clinicians on implant choice.

Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(1):48–57.

There is a large amount of evidence available about the relative merits of unicompartmental and total knee arthroplasty (UKA and TKA). Based on the same evidence, different people draw different conclusions and as a result, there is great variability in the usage of UKA.

The revision rate of UKA is much higher than TKA and so some surgeons conclude that UKA should not be performed. Other surgeons believe that the main reason for the high revision rate is that UKA is easy to revise and, therefore, the threshold for revision is low. They also believe that UKA has many advantages over TKA such as a faster recovery, lower morbidity and mortality and better function. They therefore conclude that UKA should be undertaken whenever appropriate.

The solution to this argument is to minimise the revision rate of UKA, thereby addressing the main disadvantage of UKA. The evidence suggests that this will be achieved if surgeons use UKA for at least 20% of their knee arthroplasties and use implants that are appropriate for these broad indications.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2015;97-B(10 Suppl A):3–8.

Mechanical alignment has been a fundamental tenet of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) since modern knee replacement surgery was developed in the 1970s. The objective of mechanical alignment was to infer the greatest biomechanical advantage to the implant to prevent early loosening and failure. Over the last 40 years a great deal of innovation in TKA technology has been focusing on how to more accurately achieve mechanical alignment. Recently the concept of mechanical alignment has been challenged, and other alignment philosophies are being explored with the intention of trying to improve patient outcomes following TKA.

This article examines the evolution of the mechanical alignment concept and whether there are any viable alternatives.