Purpose of the study: Although the association between femoroacetabular impingement and degenerative hip disease has been well established, there is no way to detect a subgroup of hips with radiographic signs of impingement which will progress to degeneration. In addition, the majority of publications on the topic have been conducted in populations of patients with an overtly degenerative hip, where the incidence of signs of impingement is higher. There has not been any study searching for the presence of signs of impingement in a symptom free population. For this reason, we searched for signs of femoroacetabular impingement in a general population and attempted to find correlations with degenerative hip disease.

Material and method: We examined 200 computed tomography (CT) series of the pelvis performed for reason other than an orthopaedic indication. Four hundred hips were thus analysed with the Amira 4.1 3D software. We measured the classical coxometric parameters, orientation of the acetabulum, alpha angle, and presence or not of a bulge at the head-neck junction. Cartilage thickness was also mapped using a precise protocol. Cartilage thickness less than 0.25mm was considered for the purpose of this study to indicate degenerative disease. All data were processed with SPPS 17.0.

Results: There were 103 men and 97 women, mean age 58 years and 59 years respectively. The mean alpha angle was 55.7. Retroversion was noted in 20% of hips and 28% exhibited an anterior bulge at the head-neck junction. The mean cartilage thickness at the anterosuperior part of the hip was 37mm. Degenerative disease was present in 28 patients (14%) whose mean cartilage thickness at the anterosuperior portion of the joint was 21 mm. There was no significant correlation between cartilage thickness and acetabular orientation, alpha angle, presence of a bulge at the head-neck junction. Only age was significantly correlated with degenerative disease r=−0.158 [p< 0.0].

Discussion: Among the parameters currently considered to be risk factors for degenerative disease of the hip joint, age alone was statistically linked with reduced cartilage thickness in our symptom-free population. This would suggest that the essential mechanism underlying degenerative disease remains to be discovered.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest we should be prudent when proposing corrective surgery for femoroacetabular impingement. Such surgery should be reserved for symptomatic patients.

Purpose of the study: Acetabular version is a most important parameter for repositioning the acetabular fragment during periacetabular osteotomy. Recently, a few studies have presented a significant number of dysplastic hips with acetabular retroversion. There have not however been any studies devoted specifically to the severity of bilateral acetabular retroversion. The purpose of this work was to determine the incidence of bilateral retroversion in patients undergoing periacetabular osteotomy for dysplasia in order to identify and validate a retroversion index which would be predictive of the degree of retroversion. This index could be added to congenital hip dysplasia classifications to include acetabular version.

Material and methods: The Lequesne lateral view of the hip was obtained in 174 patients (348 hips, 137 women and 37 men, mean age 30 years) undergoing periacetabular osteotomy for symptomatic dysplasia. One hundred ninety-five hips (56%) were operated on and 153 (44%) were considered normal or non-symptomatic and were not operated. The following parameters were noted for each hip: VCE, VCA, HTE, femoral head extrusion, index of acetabular depth, crossing-over, retroversion index. The retroversion index was checked on a bone model of the pelvis which was x-rayed in the neutral position then turned progressively. Statistical data were analyzed with SAS.

Results: Five percent of the operated hips presented neutral version, 53% anteversion and 42% retroversion. Twenty-four percent of the non-operated hips were normal, 22% presented pure retroversion and 54% were dysplastic. All of the measurements were significantly deviated towards dysplasia for operated hips, with the exception of the retroversion index and the VCA.

Discussion: These data validated the retroversion index and confirmed that one out of three dysplastic hips displays retroversion. In addition, it would appear that for dysplastic hips with retroversion, the degree of lateral coverage or the HTE angle determines whether surgery is needed or not and not the degree of retroversion. But as pure retroversion can be symptomatic in itself, and since the majority of these version or cover anomalies can be treated by periacetabular osteotomy, we propose a classification of hip dysplasia included acetabular version.

Conclusion: This classification is designed as an aid for the orthopedic surgeon for reorienting the acetabular fragment to obtain the optimal position.

Purpose of the study: The majority of acetabular bone defects observed during revision hip surgery can be treated with a hemispheric implant, associated or not with a bone graft. In many patients however, loss of bone stock is so great that a more complex system must be used with a sustaining ring, multilobulated implants, or massive allografts. All have their technical difficulties or problems with fixation. The purpose of this work was to evaluate a new technique for acetabular reconstruction using modular implants fashioned with a new biomaterial, porous tantalum, which had specific properties favoring osteointegration.

Material and methods: These modular implants were fashioned so as to enable reconstruction of the acetabular cavity in cases with complex loss of bone stock. The design allows simultaneous biological incorporation and mechanical support with a press-fit hemispheric cup. These implants were used for 16 hips (16 patients, 12 women and 4 men, mean age 63.6 years, age range 34–86 years). These patients were followed for 31.9 months on average (range 24–39 months). The acetabular defects were Paprosky 2A (n=1), 2B ‘n=3), 2C (n=1), 3A (n=5), 3B (n=6). On average, these patients had undergone 2.8 cup replacements (1–9) on the same hip.

Results: The mean Harris hip score improved from 39.31 (range 33–52) preoperatively to 75.18 (range 52–92) at last follow-up. Preoperatively, the center of rotation of the prosthetic hip was situated a a mean horizontal distance of 18.6 mm (range −3 to 46 mm) and a mean vertical distance of 27.6 mm (range −16 to 52 mm) from the ideal center of rotation according to Ranawat. Postoperatively, the prosthetic center of rotation was situated at a mean horizontal distance of 10.5 mm (range 1–25 mm) and a mean vertical distance of 7.4 mm (range −15 to 25 mm) front the ideal center of rotation. None of the implants presented loosening or migration at last follow-up.

Discussion: At short-term follow-up, this modular system for acetabular reconstruction has provided good results for acetabular reconstruction which can accept a hemispheric cup alone and which would have required use of other reconstruction methods such as structural allografts, sustaining rings or other.

Conclusion: A longer follow-up will be needed to determine whether these good clinical and radiological results persist with time.

Purpose: We evaluated male sexual function after utilisation of the orthopaedic table for centromedullary nailing in patients with femoral shaft fractures treated between 1995 and 2001. The objective was to determine the frequency of altered function and search for favouring factors.

Material and methods: Sexual function was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). We contacted by mail 109 patients aged 20 – 50 years treated in the orthopaedic traumatology unit between 1995 and 2001. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare quantitative variables and Student’s t test for classed variables.

Results: Seven patients declined to respond and three died; 55 responded (81.8%). Patients were grouped by erectile function (EF) score (< 22 or 22) according to Cappelleri. Erectile dysfunction was identified in 19 patients. Altered sexual function did not appear to be related to age, weight or height. The duration of the operation was not different between the two groups.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates a increase in iatrogenic lesions having an impact on erectile function in patients treated on an orthopaedic table when curare is not used during the intervention. The frequency of these lesions decreases significantly if the surgery is performed by a senior surgeon.

Purpose: Improved surgical technique and facilities enable emergency salvage of very damaged limbs. Functional outcome after this type of conservative treatment is generally satisfactory but at the risk of more or less quiescent osteitis. In the event of chronic osteitis, the neighbouring skin can undergo malignant degeneration (squamous-cell carcinoma). The purpose of our work was to report three such transformations and discuss therapeutic indications.

Material and methods: The study series included three patients with chronic osteitis of the tibia after trauma. During surveillance, several years later we observed changes in local signs: increasing pain, purulent discharge and bleeding (Rowlands triad). In each patient, biopsy led to the diagnosis of transformation to squamous-cell carcinoma. All patients were treated by above knee amputation.

Results: Outcome was satisfactory with an excellent quality scar formation. The search for extension was still negative a three years follow-up.

Discussion: The frequency of carcinomatous degeneration near zones of chronic osteitis varies depending on the series to 0.2% to 1.7%. This is in sort the cost of conservative treatment. Changes in the clinical presentation, Rowland’s triad, associated with modification of the bacterial flora and development of a nauseous odour are important signs which should be followed by a biopsy. The treatment of choice for most authors is amputation in order to increase patient survival.

Conclusion: The desire to pursue conservative reconstruction surgery even in the most difficult cases should not mask the risk of potential malignant transformation. Secondary amputation should not be considered as a failure in these extreme clinical situations.

Purpose: Bone remodelling and osteolysis around total hip prostheses remains an ineluctable corollary of prosthetic loosening. Alendronate (biphosphonate) has proven its efficacy for the treatment of osteoporosis of the lumbar spine and the femoral neck. There has been some in vitro work pointing out its contribution to the inhibition of osteolysis induced by particles. One in vivo study has demonstrated its interest in prevention of osteolysis around non-cemented total hip arthroplasties. The purpose of our work was to study the efficacy of this drug in the prevention of periprosthetic osteolysis around cemented total hip arthroplasties using biphotonic absortiometry (DPX).

Material and methods: The series included 38 patients who underwent unilateral total hip arthroplasty for degenerative hip disease. After double blinded randomisation, 20 patients were given 10 mg Alendronate per day with 600 mg calcium and 18 patients were given a placebo with 600 mg calcium for two years. All patients were followed with standard x-rays and DPX of the operated hip. Examinations were performed on the fourth postoperative day and on the third, sixth, twelveth and twenty-fourth postoperative month. The analysis concerned the periprosthetic zones defined by Gruen.

Results: DPX demonstrated significant reduction in bone mineral density (BMD) in all patients included in the study. This reduction was the same for the two groups early in the study and reached a maximum at three months; a divergence was observed thereafter. For the placebo group, the loss reached a plateau up to the sixth month after which the BMD started to rise progressively remaining at 12.7% reduction at two years (p< 0.002). In the ALN group, there was no plateau, BMD increased directly to reach 6.9% bone loss at two years (p< 0.003).

Discussion:The use of Alendronate enabled a significant reduction of periprosthetic bone loss at two years post-op. Our results are the first to our knowledge demonstrating a beneficial effect in vivo of the use of Alen-dronate on bone behaviour around cemented total hip arthroplasties.

Conclusion: Taking into account the short follow-up in this series, and its small size, other studies are indispensable to confirm this beneficial effect in vivo. The action of Alendronate could facilitate revision surgery by preserving bone stock.

Purpose: Bone remodelling and osteolysis around total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a highly debated subject in the medical literature. Such bone behaviour is poorly understood around femoral stems used in revision THA. The main problem is to obtain an objective assessment of bone remodelling and bone reconstruction over time, reconstruction techniques being very variable. Conventional radiology is insufficient, but dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) provides a means of following changes in the bone around first intention femoral stems.

Material and methods: We studied bone behaviour around revision femoral stems using the non-cemented “P.P. system”. This type of femoral stem is implanted after trochanter osteotomy to facilitate access and stimulate reconstruction. The series included 31 patients who underwent revision total hip arthroplasty. Follow-up examinations included standard radiographs and DEXA of the operated hips, the contralateral hip and the lumbar spine. Periprosthetic zones defined by Grüen were compared with the same zones in the contra-lateral femur. Mean follow-up was six years.

Results: The standard radiographs did not demonstrate any significant change in periprosthetic cortical thickness. The DEXA demonstrated a significant an average 19.97% reduction in bone density in zones 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. There was no significant difference in zone 7 and an increase in zone 1 (torchanter osteotomy). These figures are to be compared with the variable thickness observed for first intention pros-theses even shortly after implantation.

Discussion: Our results are the first to our knowledge demonstrating the behaviour of bone around revision femoral stems.

Conclusion: Digastric trochanterotomy appears to be an effective means of stimulating reconstruction of the proximal femur. At equivalent follow-up, the quadrangular section of the revision P.P. stem is more favourable in terms of bone loss compared with first intention stems.