We carried out a retrospective case-control study in 80 patients who underwent a revision total hip replacement. Group A (40 patients) received tranexamic acid and intra-operative cell salvage. Group B (40 patients) was a matched control group and did not receive this management. Each group was divided into four subgroups: revision of both components, revision of both components with bone grafting, revision of the acetabular component with or without bone graft, and revision of the femoral component with or without bone graft. In group A the total number of units transfused was 52, compared with 139 in group B, representing a reduction in blood usage of 62.5%. The mean amount of blood transfused from cell salvage in each group was 858 ml (113 to 2100), 477 ml (0 to 2680), 228 ml (75 to 315) and 464 ml (120 to 1125), respectively. There was a significant difference in the amount of blood returned between the groups (p < 0.0001). In group A, 22 patients needed transfusion and in group B, 37 (p < 0.0001). A cost analysis calculation showed a total revenue saving of £70 000 and a potential saving throughout our facility of £318 288 per year. Our results show that a significant reduction in blood transfusion can be made using combined cell salvage and tranexamic acid in revision surgery of the hip

Aims

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prosthesis characteristics and associated conditions that may modify the survival of total femoral endoprosthetic replacements (TFEPR).

Aims

Short, bone-conserving femoral components are increasingly used in total hip arthroplasty (THA). They are expected to allow tissue-conserving implantation and to render future revision surgery more straightforward but the long-term data on such components is limited. One such component is the global tissue-sparing (GTS) stem. Following the model for stepwise introduction of new orthopaedic implants, we evaluated early implant fixation and clinical outcome of this novel short-stem THA and compared it to that of a component with established good long-term clinical outcome.

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Dislocation remains a significant complication after total hip arthroplasty (THA), being the third leading indication for revision. We present a series of acetabular revision using a dual mobility cup (DMC) and compare this with our previous series using the posterior lip augmentation device (PLAD).

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The aim of the current study was to assess the reliability of the Ottawa classification for symptomatic acetabular dysplasia.

The direction of wear in the acetabular socket has implications for the amount of debris that is generated during movement, for the magnitude of eccentric loading and for the incidence of impingement of the neck. We observed the direction of penetration with respect to a global co-ordinate system in 84 acetabular components retrieved at reoperation. The mean direction of wear relative to the open face of the sockets was found to be 37° with a range from 0° to 87°. For those values determined using the inclination of the socket on the prerevision radiograph, the mean direction of penetration in the coronal plane had a lateral, rather than a medial, component. The mean angle was 84° (SD 17°) with respect to the horizontal. The angle of penetration was found to correlate significantly with the depth, in that the lateral component became larger as the wear progressed. There was also a significant correlation between the rate of penetration and the direction of wear. Despite the theoretical advantage of penetration in the superolateral direction, i.e., along the margin of the socket, in reducing the probability of impingement of the neck, no significant correlation was seen between the angle of penetration and the period of use in vivo. This may suggest that impingement of the femoral neck on the rim of the socket may not be the dominant factor in loosening of the socket but can still be important in a few cases

The cost of clinical negligence in the UK has continued to rise despite no increase in claims numbers from 2016 to 2019. In the US, medical malpractice claim rates have fallen each year since 2001 and the payout rate has stabilized. In Germany, malpractice claim rates for spinal surgery fell yearly from 2012 to 2017, despite the number of spinal operations increasing. In Australia, public healthcare claim rates were largely static from 2008 to 2013, but private claims rose marginally. The cost of claims rose during the period. UK and Australian trends are therefore out of alignment with other international comparisons. Many of the claims in orthopaedics occur as a result of “failure to warn”, i.e. lack of adequately documented and appropriate consent. The UK and USA have similar rates (26% and 24% respectively), but in Germany the rate is 14% and in Australia only 2%. This paper considers the drivers for the increased cost of clinical negligence claims in the UK compared to the USA, Germany and Australia, from a spinal and orthopaedic point of view, with a focus on “failure to warn” and lack of compliance with the principles established in February 2015 in the Supreme Court in the case of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board. The article provides a description of the prevailing medicolegal situation in the UK and also calculates, from publicly available data, the cost to the public purse of the failure to comply with the principles established. It shows that compliance with the Montgomery principles would have an immediate and lasting positive impact on the sums paid by NHS Resolution to settle negligence cases in a way that has already been established in the USA.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2020;102-B(5):550–555.

Aims

We evaluated a large database with mechanical failure of a single uncemented modular femoral component, used in revision hip arthroplasty, as the end point and compared them to a control group treated with the same implant. Patient- and implant-specific risk factors for implant failure were analyzed.

Between 1983 and 1988 we carried out 45 Charnley low-friction arthroplasties with autografts from the femoral head in 41 patients for developmental dysplasia of the hip. The preoperative radiographs were assessed for the severity of DDH according to the classifications of Crowe et al, Hartofilakidis et al and Sharp. The postoperative and follow-up radiographs were analysed for coverage of the socket by the graft, for loosening and for the outcome of the fixation of the bone graft. Two patients died (two hips) at four and seven years after THR from causes unrelated to the surgery and were excluded from the final radiological analysis. The mean age of the patients at the time of operation was 46 years 3 months. The autograft of the femoral head covered a mean 26% (16 to 35) of the acetabular component. All the grafts united. Some degree of resorption of the bone graft occurred in 27 patients, and always involved the lateral part of the graft, which was beyond the margin of the socket. After a mean follow-up of 11 years there had been no revisions and 38 patients had no pain or only slight discomfort. One socket migrated and four others were fully demarcated. Our findings indicate that the Charnley LFA with an autograft of the femoral head for DDH remains successful at a follow-up of 15 years

We investigated the radiographic and clinical course of 31 patients in whom a bulk acetabular allograft had been used during the cementless revision of a total hip replacement. Two patients died and two were lost to follow-up within 24 months, but of the remaining 27 acetabular components, 12 (44%) showed radiographic evidence of instability at a mean of 46 months. Five of these have been revised. In the 12 failures, signs of instability had been noted at an average of 29 months (1 to 60). Failures during the first 24 months were usually due to technical errors, later failures to gradual migration of the cup into the graft. The cups with the greatest amount of their surface supported by grafts were most likely to migrate, but this migration was usually asymptomatic. Screw fixation of the cup, used in 24 cases, appeared to control the mechanism of failure. Femoral head allografts and distal femoral allografts had been used, with failure in 6 of 16, and 6 of 11 respectively; distal femoral allografts were used only for large defects. The insidious course of late cup migration and graft failure necessitates close radiographic follow-up of patients treated with bulk allografts

We evaluated 38 hip reconstructions in 36 patients at a mean follow-up of 5.9 years (range 4 to 9.1) after femoral head allografts had been used to augment severely deficient acetabular bone stock. The patients were all relatively young and had many previous operations. Their pre-operative Harris hip rating averaged 46 points (range 18 to 73). All the allografts united and there were no infections. However, 12 acetabular components (32%) became loose; six of these had needed revision using the healed allograft, and two hips had required resection arthroplasty. The 30 surviving hips had a mean Harris hip score of 82 points. Some radiographic evidence of graft resorption was seen in 23 hips, though this was mild in 17. The extent of cover provided by the allograft and the severity of graft resorption both correlated with acetabular loosening. Although structural allografts had allowed successful hip reconstructions in many of these patients with major bone loss, the failure rate had increased from zero at four years to 32% at six years; clearly they provide only a short-term solution

We have reviewed 29 patients (30 hips) who had undergone revision total hip arthroplasty using a Freeman metal-backed acetabular component and acetabular impaction allografting. The mean follow-up was for 15.3 years (12 to 17). Five patients (5 hips) died with the prosthesis in situ and four (4 hips) were lost to follow-up. Twelve hips had failed and in the remaining nine there were minor symptoms. The mean time to failure requiring further surgery was nine years. Excluding patients who were lost to follow-up or had died, 72% of the hips were radiologically loose at the last review. The commonest pattern in those requiring revision was failure of the reinforcement ring in adduction with remodelling of the medial wall. Of the nine patients who had not undergone revision, one with bilateral replacements had no current radiographs and only three of the remaining seven replacements had no radiological signs of loosening. The short-term results for this technique have been reported to be satisfactory, but in the long term they are not. The factors associated with failure include the design of the prosthesis, which has been implicated in disappointing long-term results when used in primary arthroplasty, but not with the frequency of failure found in this series. It seems that the reliance on peripheral screw fixation over a bed of allograft without bridging the graft does not provide sufficient stability to allow incorporation of the graft

From 1981 to 1983, we implanted Bioceram type-4 and type-5 prostheses in 61 hips in 54 patients with osteoarthritis secondary to acetabular dysplasia, congenital subluxation, or congenital dislocation of the hip. Fifty-seven hips in 50 patients were followed for a mean of 11.1 years (10 to 13). The mean age of the patients at operation was 53 years (31 to 70). Functional evaluation using the Merle d'Aubigne and Postel hip score showed a 77% success rate. Radiological loosening occurred in three femoral (5%) and 16 acetabular components (28%). Autologous femoral head grafts were used in 18 hips and became incorporated, giving mechanical support to the socket except for one which occupied a large weight-bearing area and eventually collapsed. The mean polyethylene wear was 1.1 mm (0 to 3.6) and the mean wear rate was 0.10 mm/year (0 to 0.31). A high rate of wear correlated with calcar resorption (p > 0.002) but not with acetabular loosening. There was no breakage of a ceramic head. Study of the ceramic heads and polyethylene sockets retrieved after ten years showed excellent surface roughness, sphericity, and bending strength for the heads but scratches and voids were seen on the sockets

Aims

This pilot study tested the performance of a rapid assay for diagnosing prosthetic joint infection (PJI), which measures synovial fluid calprotectin from total hip and knee revision patients.

Aims

Vitamin E-diffused, highly crosslinked polyethylene (VEPE) and porous titanium-coated (PTC) shells were introduced in total hip arthroplasty (THA) to reduce the risk of aseptic loosening. The purpose of this study was: 1) to compare the wear properties of VEPE to moderately crosslinked polyethylene; 2) to assess the stability of PTC shells; and 3) to report their clinical outcomes at seven years.

Aims

This study aimed to develop a virtual clinic for the purpose of reducing face-to-face orthopaedic consultations.

We present the results for 4762 revision total hip arthroplasties with no previous infection in the hip, which were reported to the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register between 1987 and 2003. The ten-year failure rate for revised prostheses was 26% (95% CI 25 to 26). Cox regression analyses were undertaken separately for acetabular and femoral revision components. Cemented revision components without allograft was the reference category. For acetabular components, we found a significantly reduced risk of failure for uncemented revisions both with (relative risk (RR) = 0.66; 95% CI 0.43 to 0.99) and without (RR = 0.37; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.61) allograft. For femoral components, we found a significantly reduced risk of failure for uncemented revisions, both with (RR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.46) and without (RR = 0.22; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.46) unimpacted allograft. This reduced risk of failure also applied to cemented revision components with allograft (RR = 0.53; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.84) and with impaction bone grafting (RR = 0.34; 95% CI 0.19 to 0.62). Revision prostheses have generally inferior results when compared with primary prostheses. Recementation without allograft, and uncemented revision with bone impaction, were associated with worse results than the other revision techniques which we studied

We studied 108 patients (116 hips) who were followed for a minimum of six years (73 to 89 months) after primary total hip arthroplasty using an uncemented porous-coated anatomic hip. The average age of the patients at operation was 48.4 years, and the diagnosis was avascular necrosis of the femoral head in 46 hips, neglected femoral neck fracture in 27, osteoarthritis secondary to childhood pyogenic arthritis in 24 and to childhood tuberculous arthritis in five, and miscellaneous in 14. The average preoperative Harris hip score was 55, which improved to 91 at latest follow-up. All patients with loose femoral components or disabling thigh pain had received prostheses which were undersized in the coronal or the sagittal plane, or in both. No patient with a satisfactory fit in both coronal and sagittal planes had loosening of the femoral component or disabling thigh pain. Three acetabular components showed aseptic loosening and 20 showed excessive wear (5 to 11 mm) of the polyethylene liner. Excessive wear was related to young age, but not to body-weight, gender, primary diagnosis, hip score, or range of hip movement. There was a high incidence of osteolysis (38 of 116 hips, 33%). We recommend careful preoperative planning, with the use of a contemporary cemented technique when a satisfactory fit cannot be obtained. The high incidence of excessive wear and of osteolysis needs further investigation

We describe the survival at ten years of 100 femoral components of the Freeman hip prosthesis. It is proximally hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated and was fixed without cement. Radiological assessment identified radiolucent lines (RLLs) and lytic lesions and was used to measure migration. The criterion of failure was revision or impending revision for aseptic femoral loosening. No femoral components were revised or are awaiting revision for aseptic loosening, giving 100% survival at ten years (95% confidence interval, 95.7 to 100), although 59 were at risk at ten years. Two components were revised for fracture of a ceramic head with damage to the trunnion. Although well fixed in each, for survival analysis we evaluated the hip as if the patient had died. Twelve acetabular components were revised and at each operation the femoral component was found to be well fixed, was not disturbed and remained in the survival analysis. Three patients were lost to follow-up, and 12 died with well-functioning prostheses. Radiologically, all except one of the components appeared to be well fixed with no RLLs and no lytic lesions at the latest follow-up. The mean vertical migration was 0.4 mm at one year, 0.8 mm at two years and 1.4 mm at ten years. One component had migrated 7.6 mm at ten years (2.1 mm in year 1) and developed RLLs in Gruen zones I and II. The symptoms, however, were only minor and revision was not indicated. Our study has shown that proximal HA coating gives effective fixation for a femoral component

Aims

It is not known whether change in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) over time can be predicted by factors present at surgery, or early follow-up. The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with changes in PROM status between two-year evaluation and medium-term follow-up.