Sciatic nerve palsy following total hip arthroplasty
(THA) is a relatively rare yet potentially devastating complication.
The purpose of this case series was to report the results of patients
with a sciatic nerve palsy who presented between 2000 and 2010,
following primary and revision THA and were treated with neurolysis.
A retrospective review was made of 12 patients (eight women and
four men), with sciatic nerve palsy following THA. The mean age
of the patients was 62.7 years (50 to 72; standard deviation 6.9).
They underwent interfascicular neurolysis for sciatic nerve palsy,
after failing a trial of non-operative treatment for a minimum of
six months. Following surgery, a statistically and clinically significant
improvement in motor function was seen in all patients. The mean
peroneal nerve score function improved from 0.42 (0 to 3) to 3 (1
to 5) (p <
0.001). The mean tibial nerve motor function score
improved from 1.75 (1 to 4) to 3.92 (3 to 5) (p = 0.02).The mean
improvement in sensory function was a clinically negligible 1 out
of 5 in all patients. In total, 11 patients reported improvement
in their pain following surgery. We conclude that neurolysis of the sciatic nerve has a favourable
prognosis in patients with a sciatic nerve palsy following THA.
Our findings suggest that surgery should not be delayed for >
12
months following injury. Cite this article:
This study reports the clinical outcome of reconstruction
of deficient abductor muscles following revision total hip arthroplasty
(THA), using a fresh–frozen allograft of the extensor mechanism
of the knee. A retrospective analysis was conducted of 11 consecutive
patients with a severe limp because of abductor deficiency which
was confirmed on MRI scans. The mean age of the patients (three
men and eight women) was 66.7 years (52 to 84), with a mean follow-up
of 33 months (24 to 41). Following surgery, two patients had no limp, seven had a mild
limp, and two had a persistent severe limp (p = 0.004). The mean
power of the abductors improved on the Medical Research Council
scale from 2.15 to 3.8 (p <
0.001). Pre-operatively, all patients
required a stick or walking frame; post-operatively, four patients
were able to walk without an aid. Overall, nine patients had severe
or moderate pain pre-operatively; ten patients had no or mild pain
post-operatively. At final review, the Harris hip score was good in five patients,
fair in two and poor in four. We conclude that using an extensor mechanism allograft is relatively
effective in the treatment of chronic abductor deficiency of the
hip after THA when techniques such as local tissue transfer are
not possible. Longer-term follow-up is necessary before the technique can be
broadly applied. Cite this article:
Cartilage defects of the hip cause significant
pain and may lead to arthritic changes that necessitate hip replacement.
We propose the use of fresh osteochondral allografts as an option
for the treatment of such defects in young patients. Here we present
the results of fresh osteochondral allografts for cartilage defects
in 17 patients in a prospective study. The underlying diagnoses
for the cartilage defects were osteochondritis dissecans in eight
and avascular necrosis in six. Two had Legg-Calve-Perthes and one
a femoral head fracture. Pre-operatively, an MRI was used to determine
the size of the cartilage defect and the femoral head diameter.
All patients underwent surgical hip dislocation with a trochanteric
slide osteotomy for placement of the allograft. The mean age at
surgery was 25.9 years (17 to 44) and mean follow-up was 41.6 months
(3 to 74). The mean Harris hip score was significantly better after
surgery (p <
0.01) and 13 patients had fair to good outcomes.
One patient required a repeat allograft, one patient underwent hip
replacement and two patients are awaiting hip replacement. Fresh
osteochondral allograft is a reasonable treatment option for hip
cartilage defects in young patients. Cite this article:
The use of ilioischial cage reconstruction for
pelvic discontinuity has been replaced by the Trabecular Metal (Zimmer,
Warsaw, Indiana) cup-cage technique in our institution, due to the
unsatisfactory outcome of using a cage alone in this situation.
We report the outcome of 26 pelvic discontinuities in 24 patients
(20 women and four men, mean age 65 years (44 to 84)) treated by
the cup-cage technique at a mean follow-up of 82 months (12 to 113)
and compared them with a series of 19 pelvic discontinuities in
19 patients (18 women and one man, mean age 70 years (42 to 86))
treated with a cage at a mean follow-up of 69 months (1 to 170).
The clinical and radiological outcomes as well as the survivorship
of the groups were compared. In all, four of the cup-cage group
(15%) and 13 (68%) of the cage group failed due to septic or aseptic
loosening. The seven-year survivorship was 87.2% (95% confidence interval
(CI) 71 to 103) for the cup-cage group and 49.9% (95% CI 15 to 84)
for the cage-alone group (p = 0.009). There were four major complications
in the cup-cage group and nine in the cage group. Radiological union
of the discontinuity was found in all successful cases in the cup-cage
group and three of the successful cage cases. Three hips in the
cup-cage group developed early radiological migration of the components,
which stabilised with a successful outcome. Cup-cage reconstruction is a reliable technique for treating
pelvic discontinuity in mid-term follow-up and is preferred to ilioischial
cage reconstruction. If the continuity of the bone graft at the
discontinuity site is not disrupted, early migration of the components
does not necessarily result in failure. Cite this article:
In this retrospective study we evaluated the
proficiency of shelf autograft in the restoration of bone stock
as part of primary total hip replacement (THR) for hip dysplasia,
and in the results of revision arthroplasty after failure of the primary
arthroplasty. Of 146 dysplastic hips treated by THR and a shelf
graft, 43 were revised at an average of 156 months, 34 of which
were suitable for this study (seven hips were excluded because of
insufficient bone-stock data and two hips were excluded because
allograft was used in the primary THR). The acetabular bone stock
of the hips was assessed during revision surgery. The mean implant–bone
contact was 58% (50% to 70%) at primary THR and 78% (40% to 100%)
at the time of the revision, which was a significant improvement
(p <
0.001). At primary THR all hips had had a segmental acetabular
defect >
30%, whereas only five (15%) had significant segmental
bone defects requiring structural support at the time of revision.
In 15 hips (44%) no bone graft or metal augments were used during
revision. A total of 30 hips were eligible for the survival study. At a
mean follow-up of 103 months (27 to 228), two aseptic and two septic
failures had occurred. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the revision
procedures demonstrated a ten-year survival rate of 93.3% (95% confidence
interval (CI) 78 to 107) with clinical or radiological failure as
the endpoint. The mean Oxford hip score was 38.7 (26 to 46) for
non-revised cases at final follow-up. Our results indicate that the use of shelf autografts during
THR for dysplastic hips restores bone stock, contributing to the
favourable survival of the revision arthroplasty should the primary
procedure fail. Cite this article:
