title: Management of failed total hip arthroplasty with muscle flaps.
abstract: In the small percentage of deep wound infections complicating total hip arthroplasty and recalcitrant to conventional forms of treatment, muscle flaps with or without a cutaneous unit can offer a satisfactory solution. Seven patients (4 male, 3 female) with failed total hip arthroplasty and multimicrobial infection were treated with a rectus femoris or vastus lateralis flap or with combined muscle transposition flaps. The patients had had from 6 to 25 surgical procedures after the failed total hip arthroplasty and before the muscle flap. The mean duration of the postsurgical hospital stay after the muscle flap procedure was thirty-one days. The mean follow-up was thirty months. Two postoperative complications occurred, one of which required partial debridement of the transposed muscle. All patients had healed wounds at follow-up. All patients were weight bearing at follow-up; 3 had been unable to bear weight before the operation. No patient showed incapacity related to the muscle transposition procedure.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D013518:Surgery, Plastic; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*