Abstract

Treatment of fractures of the femoral neck by closed reduction and internal fixation results in a high incidence of complications, and often requires secondary total hip arthroplasty. We retrospectively studied 31 patients who underwent a Stanmore (Howmedica) total hip arthroplasty performed five months (median) after osteosynthesis. The most common indications were: failure of fixation (n = 14), osteonecrosis (n = 9) and secondary osteoarthritis (n = 6). Eight patients had a maximum follow-up of 12 months; the median follow-up was 30 months in the remaining group of 23 patients. Although one patient had radiographical signs of femoral loosening, none of the patients studied needed revision of the total hip arthroplasty. Using the Merle d'Aubigne scoring system, we found excellent results in 94% of the cases. Despite the short-term follow-up and the small number of patients, we conclude that the Stanmore THA was a satisfactory salvage procedure after failure of internal fixation for femoral neck fracture.