Purpose of the study: Reconstruction of the acetabulum is becoming increasingly necessary due to the longer life expectancy of patients with a total hip arthroplasty (THA); it can also be needed after trauma or resection of a bone tumour.

Material and methods: For 39 cases, we used a bone bank acetabulum with variable size for simple reconstruction of a part of the acetabulum (n=6) or to replace the entire acetabulum (n=19) or even an entire hemi-pelvis (n=14) in patients with more or less extensive bone loss. For 18 cases, resection was necessary to remove a bone tumour (16 chondrosarcomas and two giant-cell tumours), in 19 cases the reconstruction was necessary after multiple operations, and in four others due to traumatic destruction.

Results: Allograft integration was successful in nearly all patients (two cases of necrosis required a secondary prosthesis, 12.5%) and in two cases we noted immunological reactions with a serous effusion. There were no local infections. For osteocartilaginous acetabuli (n=7) the integration was quite satisfactory, certain patients have been followed for more than 26 years with no evidence of osteoarthritis.

Discussion: Use of a well-established protocol for hypothermia and the absence of secondary sterilisation yields grafts with preserved mechanical properties. The use of cyropreserved osteocartilaginous allografts offers hip for good integration free from degenerative osteoarthritis.

Purpose of the study: The theoretical advantage of a disc prosthesis compared with fusion is to preserve spinal mobility. The purpose of our study was to determine the relationship, at nine years follow-up, between range of motion and clinical outcome after lumbar disc replacement.

Material and methods: This retrospective analysis concerned the clinical and radiographic outcome observed in 38 patients who had undergone one- or two-stage disc replacement surgery (51 implanted prostheses). Mean follow-up was 8.6 years (range 6.9–10.7). Clinical outcome was assessed with the Stauffer-Coventry modified score (SCM), the Oswestry score (ODQ) and a visual analog scale (VAS) for lumbar and radicular pain. Flexion-extension range of motion (ROM) was measured on the upright films (Cobb method) at last follow-up. Each clinical element was compared with the ROM (Spearman coefficient of correlation). Two groups of patients were distinguished: high (> 5°) and low ≤ 5°) ROM for comparison with the Mann-Whitney test.

Results: The Spearman coefficient of correlation disclosed a weak to moderate but statistically significant association between ROM, lumbar VAS (r=−0.35, p=0.034), ODQ (r=−0.33, p=0.046), SCM (r=0.42, p=0.0095); but no significant correlation between ROM and radicular VAS (r=−0.12,p=0.48). Patients with greater ROM had better clinical results and ODQ (mean difference 6.3 points, p=0.031) and SCM (mean difference 2.2 points, p=0.017); but no significant difference between the preoperative characteristics in each group (age, sex, weight, surgical history, lumbar and radicular pain, ODQ and SCM).

Discussion: There are no data in the literature comparing range of motion and clinical outcome after lumbar disc replacement. The present study demonstrated a weak to moderate but statistically significant relationship (r=0.35) between range of flexion-extension motion and clinical outcome at nine years. In addition, patients with lesser ROM (< 5°) have slightly less favorable results compared with those with greater ROM (> 5°). This study suggests the preservation of motion has a positive effect on mid-term clinical outcome.

Conclusion: These results need to be confirmed with long-term prospective data comparing discal prosthesis with fusion and non-surgical treatment in order to demonstrate the usefulness of preserving motion on the quality of the clinical outcome.