The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2006;88:110-115.
doi:10.2106/JBJS.F.00771
© 2006 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Letters to the Editor: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when Letters to the Editor are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Davis, E. T.
Right arrow Articles by Schemitsch, E. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Davis, E. T.
Right arrow Articles by Schemitsch, E. H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Total Hip Arthroplasty Following Failure of Free Vascularized Fibular Graft

Edward T. Davis, FRCS, Michael D. McKee, MD, FRCS(C), James P. Waddell, MD, FRCS(C), Thomas Hupel, MD, FRCS(C) and Emil H. Schemitsch, MD, FRCS(C)

Corresponding author:
Emil H. Schemitsch, MD, FRCS(C)
Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, 55 Queen Street East, Suite 800, Toronto, M5C 1R6 ON, Canada.
E-mail address: schemitsche{at}smh.toronto.on.ca

The authors did not receive grants or outside funding in support of their research for or preparation of this manuscript. They did not receive payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, educational institution, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors are affiliated or associated.

Background: Many treatments for osteonecrosis of the femoral head, including the use of a free vascularized fibular graft, have been advocated in an attempt to delay the need for hip arthroplasty. The purpose of this study was to document the clinical and radiographic results of total hip arthroplasty performed following failure of a free vascularized fibular grafting procedure.

Methods: Twenty total hip arthroplasties in eighteen patients who had previously undergone a free vascularized fibular grafting procedure for the treatment of osteonecrosis were retrospectively reviewed. A straight-stem femoral component was used in twelve hips, a tapered femoral component with removal of residual fibular graft was used in five hips, and a tapered stem without graft removal was used in three hips. The twelve hips with a straight-stem femoral component and previous vascularized fibular grafting were compared with thirty-six osteonecrotic hips in thirty other patients who had undergone total hip arthroplasty but had not had previous free vascularized fibular grafting. The radiographic outcomes with respect to initial femoral component alignment and subsequent migration and the clinical outcomes were compared.

Results: Analysis of the immediate postoperative radiographs demonstrated significantly improved alignment of the femoral component when a high-speed burr had been used to remove residual fibular graft (p = 0.001), although doing so did significantly increase both the intraoperative blood loss (p = 0.017) and the operative time (p = 0.0002). There was no significant difference in the amount of migration of either the acetabular or the femoral component between the control and study groups at the time of the most recent follow-up. When comparing patients with or without a previous free vascularized fibular graft, the mean postoperative scores at three years were significantly worse in patients who had undergone a previous free vascularized fibular graft (p = 0.03). One revision occurred in the study group at seventy-two months due to acetabular wear, and one revision occurred in the control group at 108 months due to aseptic loosening.

Conclusions: This study raises concern that the outcome of total hip arthroplasty in patients who previously underwent a free vascularized fibular graft for the treatment of osteonecrosis of the femoral head may be worse than that in patients without previous free vascularized fibular grafting. The intraoperative use of a high-speed burr can improve the alignment of the femoral component by removing more of the residual graft. However, this technique does increase intraoperative blood loss and operative time.

Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions to Authors on jbjs.org for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?