The use of
We are currently facing an epidemic of periprosthetic
fractures around the hip. They may occur either during surgery or
post-operatively. Although the acetabulum may be involved, the femur
is most commonly affected. We are being presented with new, difficult
fracture patterns around cemented and cementless implants, and we
face the challenge of an elderly population who may have grossly
deficient bone and may struggle to rehabilitate after such injuries.
The correct surgical management of these fractures is challenging.
This article will review the current choices of implants and techniques
available to deal with periprosthetic fractures of the femur. Cite this article:
Tapered, fluted, modular, titanium stems are
increasingly popular in the operative management of Vancouver B2 and
selected B3 peri-prosthetic femoral fractures. We have reviewed
the results at our institution looking at stem survival and clinical
outcomes and compared this with reported outcomes in the literature.
Stem survival at a mean of 54 months was 96% in our series and 97%
for combined published cases. Review of radiology showed maintenance
or improvement of bone stock in 89% of cases with high rates of
femoral union. Favourable clinical outcome scores have reported
by several authors. No difference in survival or clinical scores
was observed between B2 and B3 fractures. Tapered stems are a useful
option in revision for femoral fracture across the spectrum of femoral
bone deficiency. Cite this article:
We describe 129 consecutive revision total hip replacements using a Charnley-Kerboull femoral component of standard length with impaction allografting. The mean follow-up was 8.2 years (2 to 16). Additionally, extramedullary reinforcement was performed using struts of cortical allograft in 49 hips and cerclage wires in 30. There was one intra-operative fracture of the femur but none later. Two femoral components subsided by 5 mm and 8 mm respectively, and were considered to be radiological failures. No further revision of a femoral component was required. The rate of survival of the femoral component at nine years, using radiological failure as the endpoint, was 98%. Our study showed that impaction grafting in association with a Charnley-Kerboull femoral component has a low rate of subsidence. Reconstruction of deficiencies of distal bone with struts of cortical allograft appeared to be an efficient way of preventing postoperative femoral fracture for up to 16 years.
Tapered, fluted, modular, titanium stems have
a long history in Europe and are increasing in popularity in North America.
We have reviewed the results at our institution looking at stem
survival and clinical outcomes. Radiological outcomes and quality
of life assessments have been performed and compared to cylindrical
non-modular cobalt chromium stems. Survival at five years was 94%.
This fell to 85% at ten years due to stem breakage with older designs.
Review of radiology showed maintenance or improvement of bone stock
in 87% of cases. Outcome scores were superior in tapered stems despite
worse pre-operative femoral deficiency. Tapered stems have proved
to be a useful alternative in revision total hip arthroplasty across
the spectrum of femoral bone deficiency.
We evaluated all cases involving the combined use of a subtrochanteric derotational femoral shortening osteotomy with a cemented Exeter stem performed at our institution. With severe developmental dysplasia of the hip an osteotomy is often necessary to achieve shortening and derotation of the proximal femur. Reduction can be maintained with a 3.5 mm compression plate while the implant is cemented into place. Such a plate was used to stabilise the osteotomy in all cases. Intramedullary autograft helps to prevent cement interposition at the osteotomy site and promotes healing. There were 15 female patients (18 hips) with a mean age of 51 years (33 to 75) who had a Crowe IV dysplasia of the hip and were followed up for a mean of 114 months (52 to 168). None was lost to follow-up. All clinical scores were collected prospectively. The Charnley modification of the Merle D’Aubigné-Postel scores for pain, function and range of movement showed a statistically significant improvement from a mean of 2.4 (1 to 4), 2.3 (1 to 4), 3.4 (1 to 6) to 5.2 (3 to 6), 4.4 (3 to 6), 5.2 (4 to 6), respectively. Three acetabular revisions were required for aseptic loosening; one required femoral revision for access. One osteotomy failed to unite at 14 months and was revised successfully. No other case required a femoral revision. No postoperative sciatic nerve palsy was observed. Cemented Exeter femoral components perform well in the treatment of Crowe IV dysplasia with this procedure.
We describe the clinical and radiological results
of cementless primary total hip replacement (THR) in 25 patients
(18 women and seven men; 30 THRs) with severe developmental dysplasia
of the hip (DDH). Their mean age at surgery was 47 years (23 to
89). In all, 21 hips had Crowe type III dysplasia and nine had Crowe
type IV. Cementless acetabular components with standard polyethylene
liners were introduced as close to the level of the true acetabulum
as possible. The modular cementless S-ROM femoral component was
used with a low resection of the femoral neck. A total of 21 patients (25 THRs) were available for review at
a mean follow-up of 18.7 years (15.8 to 21.8). The mean modified
Harris hip score improved from 46 points pre-operatively to 90 at
final follow up (p <
0.001). A total of 15 patients (17 THRs; 57%) underwent revision of the
acetabular component at a mean of 14.6 years (7 to 20.8), all for
osteolysis. Two patients (two THRs) had symptomatic loosening. No
patient underwent femoral revision. Survival with revision of either
component for any indication was 81% at 15 years (95% CI 60.1 to
92.3), with 21 patients at risk. This technique may reduce the need for femoral osteotomy in severe
DDH, while providing a good long-term functional result. Cite this article:
Failure of total hip arthroplasty with acetabular deficiency occurred in 55 patients (60 hips) and was treated with acetabular revision using morsellised allograft and a cemented metal-backed component. A total of 50 patients (55 hips) were available for clinical and radiological evaluation at a mean follow-up of 5.8 years (3 to 9.5). No hip required further revision of the acetabular component because of aseptic loosening. All the hips except one had complete incorporation of the allograft demonstrated on the radiographs. A complete radiolucent line of >
1 mm was noted in two hips post-operatively. A good to excellent result occurred in 50 hips (91%). With radiological evidence of aseptic loosening of the acetabular component as the end-point, the survivorship at a mean of 5.8 years after surgery was 96.4%. The use of impacted allograft chips in combination with a cemented metal-backed acetabular component and screw fixation can achieve good medium-term results in patients with acetabular bone deficiency.
We report the use of an allograft prosthetic composite for reconstruction of the skeletal defect in complex revision total hip replacement for severe proximal femoral bone loss. Between 1986 and 1999, 72 patients (20 men, 52 women) with a mean age of 59.9 years (38 to 78) underwent reconstruction using this technique. At a mean follow-up of 12 years (8 to 20) 57 patients were alive, 14 had died and one was lost to follow-up. Further revision was performed in 19 hips at a mean of 44.5 months (11 to 153) post-operatively. Causes of failure were aseptic loosening in four, allograft resorption in three, allograft nonunion in two, allograft fracture in four, fracture of the stem in one, and deep infection in five. The survivorship of the allograft-prosthesis composite at ten years was 69.0% (95% confidence interval 67.7 to 70.3) with 26 patients remaining at risk. Survivorship was statistically significantly affected by the severity of the pre-operative bone loss (Paprosky type IV; p = 0.019), the number of previous hip revisions exceeding two (p = 0.047), and the length of the allograft used (p = 0.005).
