Resection of the femoral neck: a new technique for the treatment of mallory type I intraoperative femoral fracture during total hip arthroplasty

Abstract

Intraoperative femoral fracture is a common complication during cementless total hip arthroplasty (THA). Cerclage wiring has been used for this type of fractures to attain intraoperative stability of the femoral stem. We designed a new technique to treat Mallory type 1 intraoperative femoral fractures. We excised fractured femoral neck fragment and without additional fixation and lightly tapped down the femoral stem to obtain a tight contact to the femoral cortex at the subtrochanteric level. In this case series, we described this technique and reported its outcomes.

From January 2015 to December 2017, 600 cementless THAs (557 patients) were done with use of a proximally coated tapered stem design at our department. Among the 600 THAs, Mallory type 1 intraoperative femoral fracture occurred in 8 hips (8 patients), and all of them were treated with the excision of the fractured femoral neck. Mean age of the 8 patients was 58.1 years (range, 30.4 to 81.3 years) at the time of surgery. We report the results of this new technique at postoperative 2 to 5 years (mean, 3.4 years).

All stems were placed in the neutral position. There was no revision and no stem showed any evidence of subsidence or loosening during the follow-up. The mean Harris hip score was 85.9 points at the latest follow-up.

We recommend to use the femoral neck excision technique for the treatment of Mallory type 1 intraoperative femoral fractures.