The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of previous femoral osteotomy on the outcome of total hip replacement performed for degenerative arthritis secondary to developmental dysplasia of the hip.

Eighty three primary total hip arthroplasties were performed in sixty-nine patients with osteoarthritis secondary to developmental hip dysplasia (DDH) with a minimum three year follow up. Twenty six hips had undergone previous femoral osteotomy (eleven hips, femoral osteotomy alone (FO); fifteen hips, combined femoral and pelvic osteotomy and fifty-seven hips, no previous surgery. The non operative patients with DDH served as an age and sex matched control group (control). Cementless arthroplasty was performed in seventy-eight hips. The mean duration from femoral osteotomy to primary THA was 22.9 years. The mean follow up was 7.6 years (FO) and 7.2 years (control).

The overall revision rate was 15.4 % (FO) and 21.1 % in the Control group (p> 0.05). Twenty-one hips had one or more complications during or after surgery. The FO group had a higher femoral fracture rate (23.1%) compared to controls (10.5%) (p< 0.05). At latest mean follow-up (7.4 yrs (range, two to sixteen)), the mean Harris hip score was eighty-five (FO) and eighty-five (control group) (p> 0.05). The function and pain scores in the femoral osteotomy group were similar to the controls (p> 0.05). The requirement for bone grafting was similar and operative time significantly greater (FO) compared to controls. The frequency of radiolucent lines around the femoral component in the FO group (36%) was significantly higher than the control group (12.2%) (p< 0.05). Survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan-Meier method. At ten years, the survival of the acetabular component was 84.6%/73.6% and for the femoral component 92.2%/96% in the FO/control group.

Patients with a prior femoral osteotomy have no significant difference in functional outcome, overall complication rate or revision rate compared to controls. However, there is a significant increase in femoral fracture and operative time. Previous femoral osteotomy does not compromise the functional outcome of subsequent total hip arthroplasty.