Vertebroplasty, which is the percutaneous injection of bone cement into vertebral bodies has recently been used to treat painful osteoporotic compression fractures. Early clinical results have been encouraging, but very little is known about the consequences of augmentation with cement for the adjacent, non-augmented level.

We therefore measured the overall failure, strength and structural stiffness of paired osteoporotic two-vertebra functional spine units (FSUs). One FSU of each pair was augmented with polymethyl-methacrylate bone cement in the caudal vertebra, while the other served as an untreated control.

Compared with the controls, the ultimate failure load for FSUs treated by injection of cement was lower. The geometric mean treated/untreated ratio of failure load was 0.81, with 95% confidence limits from 0.70 to 0.92, (p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in overall FSU stiffness. For treated FSUs, there was a trend towards lower failure loads with increased filling with cement (r² = 0.262, p = 0.13).

The current practice of maximum filling with cement to restore the stiffness and strength of a vertebral body may provoke fractures in adjacent, non-augmented vertebrae. Further investigation is required to determine an optimal protocol for augmentation.

Surgical dislocation of the hip is rarely undertaken. The potential danger to the vascularity of the femoral head has been emphasised, but there is little information as to how this danger can be avoided. We describe a technique for operative dislocation of the hip, based on detailed anatomical studies of the blood supply. It combines aspects of approaches which have been reported previously and consists of an anterior dislocation through a posterior approach with a ‘trochanteric flip’ osteotomy. The external rotator muscles are not divided and the medial femoral circumflex artery is protected by the intact obturator externus. We report our experience using this approach in 213 hips over a period of seven years and include 19 patients who underwent simultaneous intertrochanteric osteotomy. The perfusion of the femoral head was verified intraoperatively and, to date, none has subsequently developed avascular necrosis. There is little morbidity associated with the technique and it allows the treatment of a variety of conditions, which may not respond well to other methods including arthroscopy. Surgical dislocation gives new insight into the pathogenesis of some hip disorders and the possibility of preserving the hip with techniques such as transplantation of cartilage.