Femoral impaction grafting with cancellous bone and cement is an important technique in reconstituting deficient bone stock in revision hip arthroplasty. We report the medium to long term results of 75 consecutive patients using a collarless, polished, tapered femoral stem with an average age of 68 (±11.4) years and a mean follow up of 10.5 (±2.4) years (range 6.3 to 14.1 years).

The median Endoklinik pre-operative bone defect score was 3 (IQR: 2–3) with a median subsidence at 1 year of 2mm (IQR: 1–3mm). At the most recent follow-up (mean 10.5±2.4 years), the median Harris Hip Score (HHS) was 80.6 (IQR: 67.6–88.9) and median subsidence 2mm (IQR: 1–4mm). Ten-year survivorship with any further femoral operation as an endpoint was 92%. Four prostheses required further revision.

Subsidence of the Exeter stem continued, albeit at a slower rate after the first year and was related to the Endoklinik pre-operative bone loss (p=0.037). The degree of subsidence at 1 year was a strong predictor of long term subsidence (p<0.001). Neither subsidence nor bone stock were related to long term outcome (HHS). There was a correlation between previous revision surgery and a poor Harris Hip Score (p=0.028) and those who had undergone previous revision surgery for infection had a higher risk of complications (p=0.048).

The good long term results of this technique commend its use in revision hip arthroplasty for patients with poor femoral bone stock.