Publication:

Short term analysis of the functional outcome in complex primary hip arthroplasty

Background Total hip arthroplasty is the most commonly performed reconstructive procedure that replaces the femoral head, neck and acetabular articular surface. THA is a highly successful procedure that has made numerous patients return to excellent function without pain and provides a stable, pain-free mobile joint. The purpose of this study is short term analysis (retrospective and prospective study) of the functional outcome in 30 patients who underwent complex primary hip arthroplasty.

Methods A retrospective and prospective study was done to evaluate the functional outcome in 30 patients who underwent complex primary total hip replacement and to analyze the results. A detailed clinical examination and radiological assessment was done to assess the nature of deformity, bone stock, functional impairment and component sizes. Pre-operative templating is routinely done in all cases. Pre-operative clinical evaluation was done using modified Harris hip scoring.

Results Most of the patient was operated by Hardinge lateral approach (22 Patients). 8 patients were operated by Posterior Southern-Moore approach. In our study the average surgical time delay was 6 days ranging from 5 to 17 days. The average surgical time was 120 minutes ranging from 60 minutes to 3 hours.

Conclusions The surgical technique employed is unique to each complex case. Surgeon expertise is also a must to deal with complex hips. Complex primary THA is an emerging trend with better clinical and functional outcome with the presently available modular implants and improved surgical techniques.