Mid-term outcome of total hip arthroplasty using a short stem

Comparison of mid-term clinical and radiological results of short and conventional femoral stems in total hip arthroplasty

This study aims to answer the question: Which are superior-conventional or short femoral stems?. An Optymis stem was used as a short-femoral stem, and an Accolade II stem was used as a conventional-femoral stem. There were 95 patients in the short femoral stem group (Group 1) and 90 in the conventional stem group (Group 2). The SF-36 Life Quality Score, thigh pain, and the Harris Hip Score were used to evaluate the patients' clinical outcomes. Pre-operative, immediate post-operative, and final follow-up x-rays were used for radiological evaluation. Stem varus/valgus alignment, hip offset changing, acetabular anteversion/inclination changing, femoral migration, acetabular migration, periarticular ossification, and osteointegration evaluation were assessed for both groups. The mean follow-up time was 5.5 years for Group 1 and 5.2 years for Group 2. No significant difference existed between the two groups in terms of clinical scores (Harris Hip Score, SF-36). Thigh pain was significantly higher in Group 2 (p = 0.0001). As for radiological parameters, Group 1 exhibited more varus position-related results. In terms of angular stability, Group 1 was found to be more unstable than Group 2 (p = 0.0001). The power to reconstruct femoral offset was superior in Group 1. Periarticular ossification was more frequent in Group 2. Femoral osteointegration was denser proximally in Group 1 and distally in Group 2. When mid-term radiological and clinical results of both femoral stems are evaluated, they have no superiority over each other.

Incidence of heterotopic ossification following total hip arthroplasty by approach: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

Heterotopic ossification (HO) formation has been increasingly recognized as a complication of major orthopedic surgeries, particularly total hip arthroplasty (THA). Though, the overall incidence of HO following THA has been well-documented, it is often not reported by severity or by surgical approach.

QUESTIONS/PURPOSES

(1) What are the demographics of patients with HO? (2) What is the severity of HO following THA using the Brooker classification? (3) What is the incidence and class of HO following different THA approaches (anterior, posterior, posterolateral, anterolateral, superior, lateral, trans-gluteal)? (4) What are the number and training level of surgeons who performed each procedure?

METHODS

The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were queried, and PRISMA guidelines were followed. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS

We isolated 26 studies evaluating 6512 total hip arthroplasties (THA). The mean HO percentage overall was 28.8%, mostly Class I (54.2%) or Class II (29.6%). The highest percentage of HO was associated with the modified direct lateral (57.2%) and the traditional lateral (34.6%) approaches. The lowest HO percentages were identified following posterolateral (12.8%) and direct superior approaches (1%). Most studies reported a singular senior surgeon operating within the same approach for all patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The traditional lateral and modified direct lateral approaches to THA resulted in the highest percentage of HO postoperatively. However, most ossification cases were not clinically significant and did not strongly affect overall patient morbidity. Further studies are warranted to identify an association between severity of ossification and different arthroplasty approaches.

Medium-term outcomes of short stems in total hip arthroplasty

Background

Prosthetic surgery has shown good short-term results with the use of short stems, results comparable with the experience of conventional stems. The aim of this study was to investigate and describe the characteristics and clinical course of patients operated on with the short stem GTS in the medium term.

Methods

Between November 2010 and September 2014, 152 primary hip prostheses were operated on in 142 patients with a mean follow-up of 95.49 months (range 75–120). We analyzed the intraoperative and postoperative complications and the reviews performed during the follow-up.

Results

One intraoperative complications occurred; case in which a femoral calcar fracture occurred and a screw was required during the operation. The clinical evaluation at the end of the follow-up, according to the Merle D’Aubigne Scale, showed the mean value was 17.3684 (SD 0,79472), with a survival at the end of the follow-up of 99.3% of the placed GTS stems.

Conclusions

GTS short stems have shown good results after more than 6 years of follow-up, with comparable results to conventional uncemented stems. Short-stem hip arthroplasty is an advanced way to preserve bone stock while protecting soft tissue

Comparison of short-stem versus conventional stem for hip arthroplasty in patients younger than 60 years: 7-14 years follow-up

PURPOSE

Short-stem prostheses in hip arthroplasty have emerged as an alternative to conventional stems, especially in younger patients. The purpose of this study was to compare functional and radiological results of a short metaphyseal fitting cementless stem versus a conventional stem implant, in patients younger than 60 years.

METHODS

All patients operated from January 2006 to April 2013 were included, obtaining a minimum follow-up of 7 years. Harris Hip Score (HHS) and SF-36 (quality of life) questionnaires were applied and the presence of "thigh pain" was specifically assessed. We also compared complication rate, revision rate and average prosthesis survival. Femoral stress shielding (Gruen scale), stem subsidence, varus-valgus tilt and implant stability (Engh scale) were also compared.

RESULTS

A total of 101 short-stem and 74 conventional arthroplasties were included, with an average follow-up of 9.82 (7-14) years. HHS functional score and SF-36 were excellent in both implants and no significant difference between them (p > 0.05) was found. However, "thigh pain" was present in 7 patients with conventional stems and none with short-stems (p < 0.001). The survival rate at 13 years was 99%, for both implants, and no significant differences were found between them (χ²(2) = 0.178; p = 0.673). Conventional stems had stress shielding at the greater trochanter in 72% of the cases and 43% at the calcar, being statistically superior (p < 0.001) to the stress shielding observed in the short stems.

CONCLUSION

According to our results, this short-stem seems to allow preservation of bone stock, with decreased stress shielding and also a lower incidence of thigh pain compared to conventional stems.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III retrospective comparative study.

The clinical outcome of the Metha short hip stem: a systematic scoping review

INTRODUCTION

Short femoral stems were designed to bridge the gap between conventional straight design stems and hip resurfacing prostheses in total hip arthroplasty (THA). A number of clinical trials have been recently conducted to assess the clinical and safety profile of the cementless, colarless, tapered Metha short hip stem in young or active middle-aged individuals.

METHODS

A systematic scoping review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. 4 reviewers independently conducted the search using the MEDLINE/PubMed database and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. These databases were queried with the terms "short" AND "hip" AND "stem".

RESULTS

From the initial 773 studies we finally chose 12 studies after applying our inclusion-exclusion criteria. The number of operated hips that were included in these studies was 5048 (mean BMI range: 22.7-35.2, mean age range: 44.4-60.4 years, mean follow-up range: 2-9 years). The mean modified Coleman methodology score was 52.3/100, while it ranged from 31/100 to 63/100. All mean clinical outcome scores that were used in the studies illustrated significant postoperative improvement when compared with the respective initial values. The revision rate of the Metha stem for component-related reasons was 2.5%, while the rate of major complications not requiring revision of the Metha stem was 2.8%.

CONCLUSIONS

The Metha stem performs well in young or active middle-aged THA patients. Further studies are required for the assessment of the long-term results.

An excellent 5-year survival rate despite a high incidence of distal femoral cortical hypertrophy in a short hip stem

BACKGROUND

Although reported results on short stems sound very promising, the occurrence of distal femoral cortical hypertrophy is often observed. The aim of the present study was to report 5-year survival data of a commercially available trochanter sparing short stem and investigate the clinical impact of distal femoral cortical hypertrophy on the outcome.

METHODS

123 total hip arthroplasties were performed on 120 patients from April 2008 to May 2010 (mean age 62, range 29-89 years; 71 hips from male patients, 58%). Clinical and radiological data were collected preoperative, at 6 weeks, 1, 2, 3, and 5 years postoperative to assess the outcome. Radiographs taken immediately postoperative as well as 1 and 5 years postoperative were used to identify and assess cortical hypertrophy.

RESULTS

1 stem had to be revised due to aseptic loosening, resulting in a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with endpoint for stem revision of 99.2% (95% Confidence Interval 94.1-99.9) at 5 years. 96 radiological and 95 clinical follow-ups were analysed 5 years postoperative. 68 (71%) hips showed distal femoral cortical hypertrophy after 5 years. The average Harris Hip Score and Oxford Hip Score improved 33 (standard deviation (SD) 15.1, range 2-70), 18 (SD 12.1, range -10-43) points, respectively. Overall 16% of the patients reported thigh pain, unrelated to the presence of cortical hypertrophy.

DISCUSSION

This short stem shows an excellent 5-year survival rate and good clinical outcome despite a high incidence of cortical hypertrophy. However, the question of the mechanism of load transfer arises.

A systematic review of short metaphyseal loading cementless stems in hip arthroplasty

AIMS

Short-stemmed femoral implants have been used for total hip arthroplasty (THA) in young and active patients to conserve bone, provide physiological loading, and reduce the incidence of thigh pain. Only short- to mid-term results have been presented and there have been concerns regarding component malalignment, incorrect sizing, and subsidence. This systematic review reports clinical and radiological outcomes, complications, revision rates, and implant survival in THA using short-stemmed femoral components.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A literature review was performed using the EMBASE, Medline, and Cochrane databases. Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to identify studies reporting clinical and radiological follow-up for short-stemmed hip arthroplasties.

RESULTS

A total of 28 studies were eligible for inclusion. This included 5322 hips in 4657 patients with a mean age of 59 years (13 to 94). The mean follow-up was 6.1 years (0.5 to 20). The mean Harris Hip Score improved from 46 (0 to 100) to 92 (39 to 100). The mean Oxford Hip Score improved from 25 (2 to 42.5) to 35 (12.4 to 48). The mean Western Ontario & McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index improved from 54 (2 to 95) to 22 (0 to 98). Components were aligned in a neutral coronal alignment in up to 90.9% of cases. A total of 15 studies reported component survivorship, which was 98.6% (92% to 100%) at a mean follow-up of 12.1 years.

CONCLUSION

Short-stemmed femoral implants show similar improvement in clinical and radiological outcomes compared with conventional length implants. Only mid-term survivorship, however, is known. An abundance of short components have been developed and used commercially without staged clinical trials. Long-term survival is still unknown for many of these components. There remains tension between innovation and the moral duty to ensure that the introduction of new implants is controlled until safety and patient benefit are demonstrated. Implant innovation and subsequent use should be driven by proven clinical outcomes, rather than market and financial forces, and ethical practice must be ensured. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2019;101-B:502-511.

Stemless hip arthroplasty versus traditional implants: a comparative observational study at 30 months follow-up

INTRODUCTION:

The aim of this retrospective case-control study is to evaluate clinical and radiographic results of short stems compared with traditional hip prostheses.

METHODS:

46 short stems (SS) and 50 traditional stems (TS) were selected. All the stems were implanted by the same surgeon using posterior approach because of primary osteoarthritis, post-traumatic osteoarthritis and avascular necrosis. All the patients were compared clinically by Harris Hip Score (HHS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), visual analogue scale (VAS), 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12F/M) and radiographically (offset, CD angle, limb length discrepancy, cup inclination, subsidence, osseointegration, heterotopic ossification). Radiographic evaluations were carried out by 3 different blinded surgeons. A statistical analysis was performed (chi-square, t-test, Mann-Whitney).

RESULTS:

At a mean follow-up of 30 months all the implanted stems were well-positioned and osseointegrated. In both groups there was a marked improvement in pain ( p < 0.001) with a statistically significant advantage in the SS group for WOMAC (90.8 vs. 87.5; p = 0.02) and in part for HHS (93 vs. 91.7; p = 0.18). The radiographic evaluations, with high concordance correlation between the 3 blinded surgeons (ICC consistently >0.80), showed no significant differences in the restoration of the articular geometry, with a reduction of cortical hypertrophy (2% SS vs. 7% TS) and periprosthetic stress-shielding ( p < 0.05) in the SS group. On the other hand, SS were more related to limb length discrepancy (61% vs. 33%; p < 0.05). No major complications were recorded in the 2 groups.

CONCLUSION:

Short stems were shown to be comparable or better than traditional implants at short-term follow-up.

Uncemented short stems in primary total hip arthroplasty: The state of the art

Over the last two decades, several conservative femoral prostheses have been designed. The goals of conservative stems include: the spearing of the trochanteric bone stock; a more physiological loading in the proximal femur reducing the risk of stress shielding; and to avoid a long stem into the diaphysis preventing impingement with the femoral cortex and thigh pain.

All stems designed to be less invasive than conventional uncemented stems are commonly named ‘short stems’. However, this term is misleading because it refers to a heterogeneous group of stems deeply different in terms of design, biomechanics and bearing. In the short-term follow-up, all conservative stems provided excellent survivorship. However, variable rates of complications were reported, including stem malalignment, incorrect stem sizing and intra-operative fracture.

Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) studies demonstrated that some conservative stems were affected by an early slight migration and rotation within the first months after surgery, followed by a secondary stable fixation. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) studies demonstrated an implant-specific pattern of bone remodelling.

Although the vast majority of stems demonstrated a good osseointegration, some prostheses transferred loads particularly to the lateral and distal-medial regions, favouring proximal stress shielding and bone atrophy in the great trochanter and calcar regions.

Cite this article: EFORT Open Rev 2018;3:149-159. DOI: 10.1302/2058-5241.3.170052