We investigated the extent to which improved balance relative to pain relief correlates with the success of total knee replacement (TKR). A total of 81 patients were recruited to the study: 16 men (19.8%) and 65 women (80.2%). Of these, 62 patients (10 men, 52 women) with a mean age of 73 (57 to 83) underwent static and dynamic assessment of balance pre-operatively and one year post-operatively. The parameters of balance were quantified using commercially available and validated equipment. Motor function and self-reported outcome were also assessed.

There was a significant improvement in dynamic balance (p < 0.001) one year after TKR, and better balance correlated with improved mobility, functional balance and increased health-related quality of life. As it seems that balance, and not only pain relief, influences the success of TKR, balance skills should be better addressed during the post-operative rehabilitation of patients who undergo TKR.

Objectives

There remains a lack of data on the reliability of methods to estimate tibial coverage achieved during total knee replacement. In order to address this gap, the intra- and interobserver reliability of a three-dimensional (3D) digital templating method was assessed with one symmetric and one asymmetric prosthesis design.

We retrospectively reviewed 175 patients (191 hips) who had undergone primary cemented total hip replacement between November 1992 and November 1995 using a collarless polished double-tapered femoral component after a minimum of ten years (mean 11.08; 10 to 12.8). All stems were implanted using contemporary cementing techniques with a distal cement restrictor, pressurised lavage, retrograde cementing with a gun and proximal pressurisation. Clinical outcome was assessed using the Harris Hip score. Radiological analysis was performed on calibrated plain radiographs taken in two planes. Complete radiological data on 110 patients (120 hips) and clinical follow-up on all the surviving 111 patients (122 hips) was available. The fate of all the hips was known.

At final follow-up, the mean Harris Hip score was 86 (47 to 100), and 87 of 116 patients (75%) had good or excellent scores. Survival with revision of the stem for aseptic loosening as the endpoint was 100%; and survival with revision of the stem for any reason was 95.9% (95% confidence interval 87.8 to 96.8) at ten years. All the stems subsided vertically at the stem-cement interface in a predictable pattern, at an overall mean rate of 0.18 mm per year (0.02 to 2.16), but with a mean rate of 0.80 mm (0.02 to 2.5) during the first year. The mean total subsidence was 1.95 mm (0.21 to 24). Only three stems loosened at the cement-bone interface. There was excellent preservation of proximal femoral bone stock. There was a high incidence of Brooker III and IV heterotopic ossification affecting 25 patients (22%).

The collarless polished tapered stem has an excellent clinical and radiological outcome at a minimum of ten years’ follow-up. The pattern and magnitude of subsidence of the stem within the cement mantle occurred in a predictable pattern, consistent with the design philosophy.

Revision arthroplasty of the hip is expensive owing to the increased cost of pre-operative investigations, surgical implants and instrumentation, protracted hospital stay and drugs. We compared the costs of performing this surgery for aseptic loosening, dislocation, deep infection and peri-prosthetic fracture. Clinical, demographic and economic data were obtained for 305 consecutive revision total hip replacements in 286 patients performed at a tertiary referral centre between 1999 and 2008. The mean total costs for revision surgery in aseptic cases (n = 194) were £11 897 (sd 4629), for septic revision (n = 76) £21 937 (sd 10 965), for peri-prosthetic fracture (n = 24) £18 185 (sd 9124), and for dislocation (n = 11) £10 893 (sd 5476). Surgery for deep infection and peri-prosthetic fracture was associated with longer operating times, increased blood loss and an increase in complications compared to revisions for aseptic loosening. Total inpatient stay was also significantly longer on average (p < 0.001). Financial costs vary significantly by indication, which is not reflected in current National Health Service tariffs.

The management of nonunion following high tibial osteotomy by total knee replacement (TKR) has been reported previously. We have extended the treatment to embrace cases with an infected high tibial osteotomy by performing an initial debridement with a period of antibiotic treatment followed by TKR. We have reviewed the results of seven knees in six patients with a mean follow-up of 40.5 months (20 to 57) after the staged TKR. At the latest follow-up, all the pseudarthroses had healed and there had been no recurrence of infection. The mean Hospital for Special Surgery knee score improved from 51.2 (35 to 73) to a mean of 91.7 (84 to 98) at final review.

Management of nonunion following high tibial osteotomy with a TKR can be extended to infected cases when treated in two stages with a debridement and antibiotic therapy prior to TKR.

The Morscher-Spotorno (MS-30) femoral stem is a stainless-steel, straight, three-dimensionally tapered, collarless implant for cemented fixation in total hip replacement.

We report the results at ten years of a consecutive series of 124 total hip replacements in 121 patients with the matt-surfaced MS-30 stem and an alumina ceramic head of 28-mm diameter. All the stems were fixed with Palacos bone cement with gentamicin using a modern cementing technique. They were combined with an uncemented, press-fit cup. The mean period of observation was 10.2 years (8.3 to 12.1) and no patient was lost to follow-up. Twenty-seven patients (22%) died with the implant in situ. Nine could only be interviewed by telephone. We included 85 patients with 88 hips in the clinical and radiological follow-up examinations.

None of the stems or cups had been revised. The Harris hip score was excellent or good in 97% (85 hips) and moderate in 3% (three hips). Radiologically, six hips (6.8%) had osteolysis adjacent to the stem, mostly in Gruen zone 7. Twenty (22.7%) showed one or more radiolucent lines. Twenty-two stems (25%) had subsided by 2 mm to 5 mm. In these cases two showed osteolysis (9.1%) with subsidence and four without (6.1%). Radiolucent lines were seen in seven with migration (31.8%) and in 13 without (19.7%). No infections and no acetabular osteolysis were observed.

The clinical results were excellent with survivorship after ten years of 100% and only a slightly statistically non-significant higher rate of osteolysis and radiolucency in cases of subsidence.

We report the results of 62 hips in 62 patients (17 males, 45 females) with mean age of 62.4 years (37 to 81), who underwent revision of the acetabular component of a total hip replacement due to aseptic loosening between May 2003 and November 2007. All hips had a Paprosky type IIIa acetabular defect. Acetabular revision was undertaken using a Procotyl E cementless oblong implant with modular side plates and a hook combined with impaction allografting.

At a mean follow-up of 60.5 months (36 to 94) with no patients lost to follow-up and one died due to unrelated illness, the complication rate was 38.7%. Complications included aseptic loosening (19 hips), deep infection (3 hips), broken hook and side plate (one hip) and a femoral nerve palsy (one hip). Further revision of the acetabular component was required in 18 hips (29.0%) and a further four hips (6.4%) are currently loose and awaiting revision.

We observed unacceptably high rates of complication and failure in our group of patients and cannot recommend this implant or technique.

Primary uncemented femoral stems reported to the Norwegian arthroplasty register between 1987 and 2005 were included in this prospective observational study. There were 11 516 hips (9679 patients) and 14 different designs of stem. Kaplan-Meier survival probabilities and Cox regression were used to analyse the data.

With aseptic loosening as the end-point, all currently used designs performed excellently with survival of 96% to 100% at ten years. With the end-point as stem revision for any cause, the long-term results of the different designs varied from poor to excellent, with survival at 15 years ranging between 29% and 97%. Follow-up for longer than seven years was needed to identify some of the poorly-performing designs. There were differences between the stems; the Corail, used in 5456 hips, was the most frequently used stem with a survival of 97% at 15 years. Male gender was associated with an increased risk of revision of × 1.3 (95% confidence interval 1.05 to 1.52), but age and diagnosis had no influence on the results. Overall, modern uncemented femoral stems performed well.

Moderate differences in survival between well-performing stems should be interpreted with caution since the differences may be caused by factors other than the stem itself.

Intrapelvic migration of the acetabular component of a total hip replacement, with severe acetabular destruction making reconstruction impossible, is very rare. We present a patient in whom the component was removed using a laparotomy and a transperitoneal approach with subsequent salvage using a saddle prosthesis and a total femoral replacement.

We carried out a clinical and radiological review of 103 cementless primary hip arthroplasties with a tapered rectangular grit-blasted titanium press-fit femoral component and a threaded conical titanium acetabular component at a mean follow-up of 14.4 years (10.2 to 17.1).

The mean Harris hip score at the last follow-up was 89.2 (32 to 100). No early loosening and no fracture of the implant were found. One patient needed revision surgery because of a late deep infection. In 11 hips (10.7%), the reason for revision was progressive wear of the polyethylene liner. Exchange of the acetabular component because of aseptic loosening without detectable liner wear was carried out in three hips (2.9%).

After 15 years the survivorship with aseptic loosening as the definition for failure was 95.6% for the acetabular component and 100% for the femoral component.

Revision arthroplasty after infection can often be complicated by both extensive bone loss and a relatively high rate of re-infection. Using allograft to address the bone loss in such patients is controversial because of the perceived risk of bacterial infection from the use of avascular graft material. We describe 12 two-stage revisions for infection in which segmental allografts were loaded with antibiotics using iontophoresis, a technique using an electrical potential to drive ionised antibiotics into cortical bone.

Iontophoresis produced high levels of antibiotic in the allograft, which eluted into the surrounding tissues. We postulate that this offers protection from infection in the high-risk peri-operative period. None of the 12 patients who had two-stage revision with iontophoresed allografts had further infection after a mean period of 47 months (14 to 78).

We reviewed the seven- to ten-year results of our previously reported prospective randomised controlled trial comparing total hip replacement and hemiarthroplasty for the treatment of displaced intracapsular fracture of the femoral neck. Of our original study group of 81 patients, 47 were still alive.

After a mean follow up of nine years (7 to 10) overall mortality was 32.5% and 51.2% after total hip replacement and hemiarthroplasty, respectively (p = 0.09). At 100 months postoperatively a significantly greater proportion of hemiarthroplasty patients had died (p = 0.026). Three hips dislocated following total hip replacement and none after hemiarthroplasty. In both the total hip replacement and hemiarthroplasty groups a deterioration had occurred in walking distance (p = 0.02 and p < 0.001, respectively). One total hip replacement required revision compared with four hemiarthroplasties which were revised to total hip replacements. All surviving patients with a total hip replacement demonstrated wear of the cemented polyethylene component and all hemiarthroplasties had produced acetabular erosion.

There was lower mortality (p = 0.013) and a trend towards superior function in patients with a total hip replacement in the medium term.

Injury to the sciatic nerve following closed manipulation of a dislocated total hip replacement is rare. We present such a case in an elderly patient with partial recovery following exploration and release of the nerve.

The direct anterior approach in total hip replacement anatomically offers the chance to minimise soft-tissue trauma because an intermuscular and internervous plane is explored. This motivated us to abandon our previously used transgluteal approach and to adopt the direct anterior approach for total hip replacement. Using MRI, we performed a retrospective comparative study of the direct anterior approach with the transgluteal approach. There were 25 patients in each group. At one year post-operatively all the patients underwent MRI of their replaced hips. A radiologist graded the changes in the soft-tissue signals in the abductor muscles. The groups were similar in terms of age, gender, body mass index, complexity of the reconstruction and absence of symptoms.

Detachment of the abductor insertion, partial tears and tendonitis of gluteus medius and minimus, the presence of peri-trochanteric bursal fluid and fatty atrophy of gluteus medius and minimus were significantly less pronounced and less frequent when the direct anterior approach was used. There was no significant difference in the findings regarding tensor fascia lata between the two approaches.

We conclude that use of the direct anterior approach results in a better soft-tissue response as assessed by MRI after total hip replacement. However, the impact on outcome needs to be evaluated further.

The purpose of this prospective, randomised study was to evaluate the clinical and radiological results comparing the identical cemented or cementless NexGen total knee prostheses implanted bilaterally in the same patient. Sequential simultaneous bilateral total knee replacements were performed in 50 patients (100 knees). There were 39 women and 11 men with a mean age of 58.4 years (51 to 67) who received a cemented prosthesis in one knee and a cementless prosthesis in the other. The mean follow-up was 13.6 years (13 to 14). At final review, the mean Knee Society scores (96.2 (82 to 100) versus 97.7 (90 to 100)), the mean Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (34.5 (4 to 59) versus 35.6 (5 to 51)), the mean ranges of knee movement (124° (100° to 140°) versus 128° (110° to 140°)), mean patient satisfaction (8.1 (sd 1.9) versus 8.3 (sd 1.7)), and radiological results were similar in both groups. The rate of survival of the femoral components was 100% in both groups at 14 years. The rate of survival of the cemented tibial component was 100% and 98% in the cementless tibial component. No osteolysis was identified in either group. Our data have shown no advantage of cementless over cemented components in total knee replacement.

We compared inflammation in the knee after total knee replacement (TKR) for primary osteoarthritis between two groups of patients undergoing joint replacement with and without synovectomy. A total of 67 patients who underwent unilateral TKR were randomly divided into group I, TKR without synovectomy, and group II, TKR with synovectomy. Clinical outcomes, serial serum inflammatory markers (including interleukin-6 (IL-6), CRP and ESR) and the difference in temperature of the skin of the knee, compared with the contralateral side, were sequentially evaluated until 26 weeks after surgery.

Pre-operatively, there were no statistically different clinical parameters between groups I and II. At the 26-week follow-up, both groups had a similarly significantly improved American Knee Society clinical score (p < 0.001) and functional score (p < 0.001) with no differences between the groups. Similar changes in serial inflammatory markers were found in both groups, including mean peak levels of IL-6 (189 pg/ml (sd 53.4) versus 201 pg/ml (sd 49.4) for groups I and II, respectively) and CRP (91 mg/L (sd 24.1) versus 88 mg/L (sd 23.4), respectively) on the first post-operative day, returning to pre-operative values at two and six weeks, respectively. The mean peak level of ESR for the respective two groups was 46 mm/hr versus 48 mm/hr at two weeks, which had still not returned to its pre-operative mean value at 26 weeks. The elevation in the skin temperature appeared to mirror the peak elevation of the ESR, with a range of 2.5° C to 4.5° C with some reduction at 26 weeks but still exceeding the pre-operative value.

We concluded that synovectomy at the time of TKR does not provide any benefit to the clinical outcome or shorten the duration of the inflammatory response after surgery.

We retrospectively studied 14 patients with proximal and diaphyseal tumours and disappearing bone (Gorham’s) disease of the humerus treated with wide resection and reconstruction using an allograft-resurfacing composite (ARC). There were ten women and four men, with a mean age of 35 years (8 to 69). At a mean follow-up of 25 months (10 to 89), two patients had a fracture of the allograft. In one of these it was revised with a similar ARC and in the other with an intercalary prosthesis. A further patient had an infection and a fracture of the allograft that was revised with a megaprosthesis. In all patients with an ARC, healing of the ARC-host bone interface was observed. One patient had failure of the locking mechanism of the total elbow replacement. The mean post-operative Musculoskeletal Tumor Society score for the upper extremity was 77% (46.7% to 86.7%), which represents good and excellent results; one patient had a poor result (46.7%).

In the short term ARC effectively relieves pain and restores shoulder function in patients with wide resection of the proximal humerus. Fracture and infection remain significant complications.

We investigated whether the extension gap in total knee replacement (TKR) would be changed when the femoral component was inserted. The extension gap was measured with and without the femoral component in place in 80 patients with varus osteoarthritis undergoing posterior-stabilised TKR. The effect of a post-operative increase in the size of the femoral posterior condyles was also evaluated. The results showed that placement of the femoral component significantly reduced the medial and lateral extension gaps by means of 1.0 mm and 0.9 mm, respectively (p < 0.0001). The extension gap was reduced when a larger femoral component was selected relative to the thickness of the resected posterior condyle. When the post-operative posterior lateral condyle was larger than that pre-operatively, 17 of 41 knees (41%) showed a decrease in the extension gap of > 2.0 mm. When a specially made femoral trial component with a posterior condyle enlarged by 4 mm was tested, the medial and lateral extension gaps decreased further by means of 2.1 mm and 2.8 mm, respectively.

If the thickness of the posterior condyle is expected to be larger than that pre-operatively, it should be recognised that the extension gap is likely to be altered. This should be taken into consideration when preparing the extension gap.

Peri-prosthetic femoral fracture after total hip replacement (THR) is associated with a poor outcome and high mortality. However, little is known about its long-term incidence after uncemented THR.

We retrospectively reviewed a consecutive series of 326 patients (354 hips) who had received a CLS Spotorno replacement with an uncemented, straight, collarless tapered titanium stem between January 1985 and December 1989. The mean follow-up was 17 years (15 to 20). The occurrence of peri-prosthetic femoral fracture during follow-up was noted. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate the cumulative incidence of fracture.

At the last follow-up, 86 patients (89 hips) had died and eight patients (eight hips) had been lost to follow-up. A total of 14 fractures in 14 patients had occurred. In ten hips, the femoral component had to be revised and in four the fracture was treated by open reduction and internal fixation. The cumulative incidence of peri-prosthetic femoral fracture was 1.6% (95% confidence interval 0.7 to 3.8) at ten years and 4.5% (95% confidence interval 2.6 to 8.0) at 17 years after the primary THR. There was no association between the occurrence of fracture and gender or age at the time of the primary replacement.

Our findings indicate that peri-prosthetic femoral fracture is a significant mode of failure in the long term after the insertion of an uncemented CLS Spotorno stem. Revision rates for this fracture rise in the second decade. Further research is required to investigate the risk factors involved in the occurrence of late peri-prosthetic femoral fracture after the implantation of any uncemented stem, and to assess possible methods of prevention.